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 |
Research Capacity Update
Interim Board appointed for Nano Ontario
TRRA and the region's universities are progressing, with private sector partners, toward the launch of Nano Ontario, the network to coordinate a comprehensive voice and program of development for Ontario nano R&D activity across institutions and industry, both within Canada and internationally. Originally, university stakeholders (McMaster University, Queen's University and the Universities of Waterloo, Toronto, Guelph, Western Ontario and Ottawa) had asked TRRA to play a role as neutral convenor to facilitate discussions for the new network. There is now consensus among academic partners on the objectives for Nano Ontario. Several provincial jurisdictions in Canada have formally established their nano networks. Ontario, which represents roughly 50 percent of the activity and value in the sector has, until now, lacked this core resource.
At a meeting on January 18 with the universities, the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), TRRA and 20 private sector representatives, an Interim Board was appointed to confirm the objectives from all parties' perspectives, and to activate Nano Ontario in its early stages. The board will report back to whole community in April/May and October/November. Nano Ontario is expected to be formally launched in summer 2010, and TRRA will continue to provide logistical support to Nano Ontario for the foreseeable future. Appointees to the interim board are:
- Mike Andrade, Senior Vice President and General Manager, North America, Celestica
- Rina Carlini, Principal Scientist, New Materials Design and Synthesis Laboratory Chair, XRCC Nanotechnology Council,
- Xerox Research Council of Canada
- Keith Thomas, President and CEO, Vive Nano
- Paul Chan, CEO, Opalux
- Evan Koslow, CEO, Gabae Development
- Arthur Carty, Executive Director, Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo
- Peter Mascher, Professor and William Sinclair Chair in Optoelectronics, Associate Dean (Research and External Relations), Faculty of Engineering, McMaster University
- Gilbert Walker, Professor, Chemistry, University of Toronto
- Gregory Jerkiewicz, Professor, Chemistry Queen's University
- Marc Nantel, Director, Centre for Photonics - Ontario Centres of Excellence
- Walter Stewart, Senior Advisor, Research Capacity Building, TRRA
Contact Walter Stewart.
Ontario Clinical Trials Working Group makes recommendations to the province
The Ontario Clinical Trials Working Group, comprised of research hospitals and universities and the pharmaceutical and public sectors, has completed an interim report that contains seven primary recommendations to the province to resolve issues in the functioning of multi-centre clinical trials. Participants have highlighted the complex and interrelated coordination, contractual and approvals issues that both pharmaceutical-driven and investigator-driven clinical trials encounter in the province. Two of the recommendations that could feasibly be acted on most immediately are: the establishment of a Clinical Trials Fellowship Program to train clinicians in the conducting of clinical trials; and establishing an overhead cost support program for multi-centre trials in the province. Contact Walter Stewart.
Water quality research project seeks balance of funding
Research on urban water quality received a major boost when the Ontario Research Fund (ORF) committed $8.95 million of infrastructure funding to the Water Quality in Urban and Urbanizing Watersheds project. Given the requirements of the government program, TRRA will now continue to work with the project's lead institution, the University of Waterloo, along with seven other university partners, to identify matching funds from other organizations and agencies to launch the project. Announcements on funding progress are expected in spring 2010.
The research program will focus on developing and consolidating under one platform all new technologies related to water use and re-use. The critical awareness that water in Ontario is a finite resource and represents an increasing constraint on economic growth in many areas of the province makes the university consortium's R&D a top priority. The water management project also represents a major opportunity for the Toronto Region to develop a test-bed and capitalize on the region's considerable institutional and private sector expertise in this field. Contact Walter Stewart.
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