Winter 2010
Welcome to the winter edition of the TRRA e-Newsletter. For more information on any topic that interests you, please click on the appropriate headline or tab.
| Features |
Regional News
Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) Funding Annoucements
Federal R&D-related Funding Announcements
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The Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA) has appointed Michael Fagan to the new position of Senior Vice President, Technology and Commercialization Services. Under OCETA's enhanced business model, focused on increasing demand for and driving new market applications for clean technology solutions, Fagan will have overall responsibility for services directed to technology entrepreneurs, early-stage companies and end-use customers. Fagan, a professional engineer with an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, has 20 years' experience working with industry, academia and government on commercialization of products and services in the environmental and renewable-energy sectors.
- The University of Waterloo, jointly with philanthropist Ronald Schlegel, the Waterloo-Wellington Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) and Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, have named gerontologist Dr. George Heckman as the first chair holder of the Schlegel Research Chair in Geriatric Medicine. Heckman's research will focus on proactive means of managing chronic disease and benefiting frail seniors. The Chair will also collaborate with the LHIN to develop an integrated model of healthcare for seniors. The new Chair is one of five Schlegel Research Chairs in Aging, first announced in 2008. Four of the chairs will be based at the university and one at Conestoga College. Schlegel, President of Winston Park and Oakwood Retirement Communities, has also contributed to the Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging.
- Conestoga College's Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning has awarded its first honourary degree to mechanical and production engineer John Keating, Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge-based COM DEV International. The company is a leading designer and manufacturer of space hardware and subsystems, with applications in communications, space science, remote sensing and military satellites. COM DEV has recently been named one of the Waterloo area's top 15 employers for 2010. The honourary degree recognizes Keating as a valuable partner to Conestoga in training, recruitment and entrepreneurship.
- The Royal Society of Canada has elected York University's Professor K.W. Michael Siu a Fellow of the society, the highest honour a Canadian scholar can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences. The honour recognizes Siu's international reputation in bioanalytical and biophysical chemistry and mass spectrometry (MS). His most significant contributions include developing new MS instrumentation in collaboration with Canadian industry; and developing innovative MS technologies and methodologies in proteomics, particularly in the discovery, verification and quantification of biomarkers for better diagnostics and prognostics of cancers. Siu holds the NSERC/MDS Analytical Technologies Industrial Research Chair in mass spectrometry. View TRRA's Video Innovation Profile featuring Dr. Siu.
- Neurologist Dr. Catherine Zahn is the new President and CEO of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), effective December 1, 2009 and succeeding Dr. Paul Garfinkel. Internationally recognized in the field of neurologic education and with expertise in technology assessment, chronic-disease management and stroke-care coordination, Zahn is also a professor in U of T's Faculty of Medicine. Zahn comes to CAMH from her position as Executive Vice-President, Clinical Programs and Practice, at the University Health Network.
- The York University President's Research Excellence Award has gone to computer science and engineering Professor John Tsotsos. Tsotsos, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision, has greatly advanced the university's Centre for Vision Research and integrates the fields of visual psychology, computer vision, robotics and visual neuroscience in his research. He has been cited as Canada's lead scientist in artificial intelligence and computer vision.
- University of Toronto astrophysicist Professor Ray Jayawardhana has won the 2009 Steacie Prize, one of Canada's most prestigious honours for rising stars in science and engineering. It is one of three honours awarded to Jayawardhana in 2009, including his receipt of NSERC's E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship and his designation as one of Canada's "Top 40 Under 40" by The Globe and Mail and Caldwell Partners. Jayawardhana holds the Canada Research Chair in observational astrophysics. His innovative research into the origin of planetary systems and the formation of stars, including his and his Toronto collaborators' recent capture of the first direct image of a giant planet revolving around a young star, wins him coveted observation time on the world's largest telescopes.
Ministry of Research & Innovation (MRI) Funding Announcements
- The Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) has announced an investment of more than $26 million in The Communitech Hub: Digital Media and Mobile Accelerator, based in Waterloo Region. The new centre will help emerging technology companies province-wide develop their businesses and commercialize their products and services. The Hub will encompass companies creating hardware and software for the advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and finance industries. Private sector support and other levels of government will complete funding for The Hub. It will offer state-of-the-art research and development tools and lab space, with equipment and support provided by industry leaders, including Open Text Corporation, Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc., Intel, Agfa Healthcare and Research In Motion. Several Toronto Region post-secondary institutions will also participate: the University of Waterloo and the Stratford Institute, Conestoga College, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the Ontario College of Art and Design.
- The province is investing $10 million in the Ontario Initiative in Personalized Stem Cell Medicine, led by Dr. Janet Rossant of the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children. The project's aim is to revolutionize treatments for cancers, heart diseases and traumatic injuries, using advanced technologies to develop healthcare products. The provincial funding will also support the training and employment of 400 highly qualified research staff.
- The province's Ontario Research Fund (ORF) - Research Infrastructure Program is investing $268 million in 214 projects and 3,300 researchers at Ontario universities and research hospitals. The Toronto Region institutions benefiting are: the University of Toronto, McMaster University, University of Waterloo, University of Guelph, Ryerson University, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, and the University Health Network. The ORF-RI funds up to 40 percent of research infrastructure costs. The remainder is covered through a combination of Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) grants, and support from private partners and the institutions themselves. See Federal R&D-Related Funding Announcements below.
- Through its Innovation Demonstration Fund, MRI is investing close to $3.8 million in Toronto-based Vive Nano, which has developed an environmentally friendly process for creating products and materials using nanotechnology. Funding will help the company build a pilot plant, refine its processes and come to full production levels. The company expects to create 19 new high-skill jobs over the next two years, including chemists, technicians, engineers, project managers and a controller.
- Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretic Physics (PI) is advancing and expanding in its second decade of operation. Along with private-sector support, the institute has secured new funding of $10 million from each of the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Ontario's Ministry of Research and Innovation in order to double its physical research space. The 55,000-square-foot addition will be named the Stephen Hawking Centre at Perimeter Institute, in recognition of theoretical physicist and Cambridge Professor Hawking's endorsement of the institute. In addition, the institute has raised $28 million to date toward its $400 million target to support research operational costs and support its basic research in quantum theory and space-time. Theoretical physics has ultimately resulted in such applied research as Marconi's transmission of radio signals and the application of Einstein's ideas about light to the development of lasers, medical-imaging equipment and CD players, among other innovations.
Federal R&D-related Funding Announcements
- The federal government's Knowledge Infrastructure Program, together with provincial funding, have launched, respectively, the $78-million Instructional and Laboratory Centre at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) and a $72-million expansion at Conestoga College's new Cambridge campus. At UTSC, high-growth, in-demand programs, from the Bachelor of Business Administration to the Master of Environmental Science, will be accommodated in the new building, complete with technology-enhanced classrooms, research and teaching labs and study space. At Conestoga, the Cambridge campus will get its first building, housing the School of Engineering and Information Technology and focusing on training in advanced manufacturing, robotics, renewable energy and IT. The campus will also expand to include an Institute of Food Processing Technology, in partnership with the Alliance of Ontario Food Processors.
- The federal government's Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) is providing $20 million to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to advance the Cambridge area and Southern Ontario as a hub for international diabetes research and technology commercialization, including the launch of a Clinical Trial Network. The foundation will provide an additional $10 million to the partnership. The University of Waterloo and McMaster University, among other southern Ontario institutions, will have research roles in the diabetes project.
- Seneca College has received $2.3 million through the College and Community Innovation Program (CCIP), a joint program of NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR federal funding agencies. The funding will support applied flight training research in areas of innovative technologies for training and non-technical and technical skill transfer, in collaboration with the aviation industry. Seneca has Canada's only baccalaureate degree in flight training.
- Of a total $59.39 million announced by the Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF) in December 2009, Toronto Region universities took 50 percent of the funding allocated in Ontario: more than $7 million for cutting-edge research infrastructure in order to attract and retain world-class researchers and stimulate economic development through capital projects. The TR universities are: U of T, McMaster, Guelph, Waterloo and Ryerson.
- The National Research Council Canada (NRC) and Magna Exteriors and Interiors, an operating unit of Magna International Inc., have joined forces to create the Magna-NRC Composite Centre of Excellence in Concord, Ontario. The public-private partnership will focus on developing thermoplastic composites have been identified as the best prospects for reducing the weight of structural car parts, making them more fuel-efficient and affordable. Joint project work in composites will begin immediately, while the new research facility is expected to be operational in summer 2010.
- Infosource's citing of Canada's Top 50 Research Universities (www.researchinfosource.com) includes four Toronto Region universities with research income exceeding $100 million in 2008: the Universities of Toronto, Waterloo and Guelph, and McMaster University. First-place Toronto Region Research Universities of the Year for 2009, by category, were the University of Waterloo (comprehensive) and U of T (medical/doctoral). The University of Guelph placed second in the comprehensive category. According to Research Infosource Inc. and data from Statistics Canada, overall, sponsored research income from government, private and not-for-profit sources to Canada's top 50 grew by net six percent in 2008. In the category of research intensity (research income per full-time faculty position), U of T and McMaster University in Toronto Region bettered the national average. In the category of growth in research publications, Ryerson University in Toronto led in the undergraduate category.
- Based on Times Higher Education's World University Rankings of 621 universities in 2009, the University of Toronto is the world's ninth strongest university overall by reputation, as judged by academics at institutions around the world. In addition, U of T is also in the top 15 of the ranking in discipline-specific areas: in engineering; in life, social and natural sciences; and in the arts and humanities. More than 9,000 academics and 3,000 employers responded to the 2009 rankings survey from which the selections were made. U of T also placed 27th worldwide, the top-ranked Canadian university, in Shanghai Jiao Tong University's annual Academic Ranking of World Universities. The Shanghai university ranks universities based on research output, the quality of faculty and quality of education. U of T ranked highly in subject-specific areas of the Shanghai ranking, as well: eighth worldwide in computer science and 19th in engineering and technology.
- The University of Waterloo has launched North America's first integrated School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED). The school will deal with difficult resource, ecosystem, policy and sustainability issues through research, education and training. It is offering two undergraduate degrees in environmental studies, business, and international development, along with integrated graduate programs, co-operative education and field training.
- George Brown College has launched its Institute for Entrepreneurship and Community Innovation, a living laboratory through which highly trained students will provide consulting services to local social enterprises, not-for-profit organizations and for-profit businesses. The institute, managed by the college's Centre for Business, will connect students with clients aiming to launch, manage or grow their businesses. The college's work on projects such as the Regent Park pre-apprenticeship program, the Assistant Cook Extended Training (ACET) program with the CAMH and the Colleges Integrating Immigrants to Employment (CIITE) program illustrates George Brown's ability to effectively partner with other organizations to make tangible differences in the community.
- Canadian Solar Inc., a leading provider of solar cells, solar module, and custom-designed solar products for residential, commercial and solar-farm markets, has begun the site selection and approvals process to establish a 200-megawatt manufacturing facility in Ontario. The company cited the strength of Ontario R&D and the government's commitment to investing in a low-carbon economy (namely, the province's feed-in-tariff (FIT) program) as prime factors in its decision. Canadian Solar, which operates across three continents and 24 countries, expects to establish the plant site, cost and ultimate size in the first quarter of 2010. The new facility is projected to be one of the largest solar-panel manufacturing facilities in North America, with sufficient capacity to supply electricity to 60,000 homes per year. It will ultimately create 500 new direct manufacturing jobs in the province.
- During the 2009 Incubator Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Waterloo's Accelerator Centre, established to advance the creation, growth and maturation of sustainable new technology companies and commercialization of R&D, was awarded second place in the fastest-growth category and named best overall incubator. An international panel of incubation experts selected the award recipients from the worldwide incubator programs and organizations participating in the competition. Since opening in 2006, the Accelerator Centre, a joint initiative of federal and provincial governments, the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), Waterloo Region, the City and University of Waterloo, has launched five start-up companies and is home to more than 25 technology start-ups.
- Toronto Region companies have won the majority of the top-20 spots in the Canadian Innovation Exchange's (CIX) 2009 Innovation Leaders awards in ICT, cleantech and digital media. Toronto's CognoVision was peer-voted the winner for its technology that helps retail companies measure the effectiveness of in-store media and shopper behaviour. Other Toronto Region companies recognized in the top 20 include: Aeryon Labs (Waterloo), Dayforce (Toronto office), EnStream LP (Toronto), Glassbox Television Inc. (Mississauga), IGLOO Inc. (Kitchener), Metranome (Waterloo), NimTech (Toronto), Peerset (Toronto office), PostRank (Waterloo), Remco Solid State Lighting (Toronto), Rypple (Toronto), and Skymeter (Toronto).
- Canadian Business magazine, together with Drayton Weissenfels, Yet2.com, and OCETA, have named Toronto firm Vive Nano number-one in the Clean15 competition of top Canadian cleantech companies. Vive Nano's focus is to be a world leader in the commercialization of nanotechnology-based products and materials for crop protection and catalyst applications. Other winning Toronto Region companies include: NimTech, Morgan Solar Inc., YIELD Energy Inc., Avante Security Inc., Bactech Mining Corp., Remco Solid State Lighting, Real Tech Inc. and Global Emissions Systems Inc.
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