Canada Watch :: October 2011 :: Science and Technology

November 2011

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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Science & Technology

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About the International Science and Technology Program Canada

The International Science and Technology Program (ISTP) was incorporated with the primary objective of strengthening Canada’s science and technology, business-to-business relations and, ultimately, its overall economic, trade, and political relations. ISTP provides networking opportunities and funding to support Canadian participation in collaborative research projects with counterparts globally, beginning with China and India. Emphasis is placed on research projects with the potential for commercial application.

Canada, US Can Work to Be Innovation Leaders, Minister of State Goodyear Says at Canada 2020 Innovation Conference

Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), delivered a keynote address at this month’s Canada 2020 innovation conference, contending that “innovation is a broad North American endeavor, and expanding the frontiers of discovery depends on strong partnerships.”

The conference, whose theme was “The Canada–US Partnership: Enhancing the Innovation Ecosystem,” drew a number of high-profile delegates including: His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada; His Excellency David Jacobson, US Ambassador to Canada; Ronald J. Daniels, President of Johns Hopkins University; and Feridun Hamdullahpur, President of the University of Waterloo, among other business leaders, policy makers, and academics from both Canada and the United States.

“In an integrated North American economy, innovation on one side of the border has positive effects on the other,” said Minister Goodyear. “Never before has collaboration been so important to our two countries.”

The Minister also outlined the Government of Canada’s initiatives aimed at attracting and retaining the world’s brightest researchers, investing in research and development, and commercializing research. In addition, he noted areas of common interest between the Canada and the US, such as encouraging greater science and technology partnerships and bringing promising research ideas to the marketplace.

Prime Minister Harper, right, with Hu Jintao, President of China.

Canada and China Collaborate on Science and Technology to Foster Jobs and Economic Growth

Prime Minister Harper recently announced renewed support for the Framework Agreement for Cooperation on Science, Technology, and Innovation between Canada and China The support, which will be provided in part by the International Science and Technology Partnership Program (ISTPP), will further contribute to strengthening research and development and business linkages between the two countries in such areas as clean transportation technology and vaccine research.

“Canada and China have much to share with one another in the area of science and technology,” said the PM. “This support will enable our scientists to work together on innovative new ideas that can be brought to the marketplace to help generate jobs and economic growth.”

Canada and China signed the Framework Agreement for Cooperation on Science, Technology and Innovation in 2007 and set up a joint committee composed of representatives from government, industry, and academia. The two countries have agreed to accelerate commercialization of research in areas such as clean technology, energy, life sciences, sustainable agriculture, information and communications technologies, and civil aviation.

Additional support for this program comes from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Brenda Milner, Canadian Neuroscience Pioneer, Receives Prestigious US Prize

Canadian Brenda Milner, one of the most important neuroscientists of the last century, this month was honored with the 2011 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize at Rockefeller University in New York. The $100,000 award was created in 2004 and recognizes female scientists who have made extraordinary contributions to biomedical science.

Ms. Milner’s seminal work uncovered key connections between the structure of the human brain and the inner experience of consciousness. Her transformative research began in the 1950s with a single patient who had lost the ability to retain new memories as a result of brain surgery. Working with this patient on varied learning tasks, Dr. Milner showed that declarative memory – the ability to recall a particular name or face, for example – relies on neural systems that are distinct from those underlying the capacity for verbal communication or motor skills, such as riding a bicycle.

This groundbreaking insight led to a distinguished career investigating fundamental problems such as language processing in the brain and how the brain reorganizes itself to preserve certain functions following injury.

Renowned as a teacher as well as a biomedical investigator, Dr. Milner has been elected to the US National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society. A recipient of the Gairdner Foundation International Award, she has been named a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Canada and US Jointly Host NATO’s Largest Ever International Non-Lethal Capabilities Technology Showcase

The 2011 North American Technology Demonstration (NATD) was held last month in Ottawa and brought together 1,000 of the world’s leaders in defense and security. Showcasing non-lethal capabilities that can be acquired and fielded quickly in support of NATO and counter-terrorism operations, the three-day technology demo (a NATO initiative) was hosted jointly by Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) and the United States Department of Defense’s Non-Lethal Weapons Program, and attracted military and civilian members from over 30 different countries.

“Non-lethal capabilities provide operating forces with an important capability that reduces casualties and collateral damage and saves lives in situations where distinguishing between adversaries and innocent civilians is difficult,” said Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay. “In hosting this year’s conference, we are injecting over $1.5 million dollars into the Canadian economy.”

This year’s NATD allowed industry the opportunity to share with participants details on the availability, development, effects, and potential uses of various non-lethal capabilities. It also promoted technological developments related to non-lethal capabilities through the sharing of requirements with participating companies.

Toronto Among World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Cities

Australian consulting firm 2thinknow has released its annual list of the most innovative cities in the world, and Toronto has finished in the Top 10. Taking into account a city’s cultural assets, human infrastructure, and networked markets – what the 2thinknow analysts term “the global innovation economy” – the list, which has been annual since 2007, also featured three American cities in this year’s Top 10: Boston, which topped the list, San Francisco, and New York.

Innovation Hub Forming in Toronto’s Banting and Best Complex

The Banting and Best buildings on Toronto’s College Street were constructed (Banting in 1930, Best in 1954) to provide a venue for University of Toronto (U of T) researchers to build on one of the landmark discoveries in the history of human health – the discovery of insulin. The buildings, then, became the location of a number of research labs investigating diabetes, genetics, and a variety of other health issues. Happily, they are currently enjoying new life as various groups from U of T and its partner hospitals – those focused on research commercialization – are converting the buildings into a united center.

“What we’re designing here now with our partners at the hospitals…is an integrated complex that will enable us to be a major hub for innovation internationally,” says Professor Paul Young, U of T’s Vice President, Research. “I have no hesitation in saying this initiative will have global impact.”

Over the coming weeks, a number of groups in the commercialization field will begin to occupy space in the complex. One of the first tenants will be U of T’s Innovations and Partnerships Office (IPO), which works with researchers throughout the university in bringing innovations to the marketplace. IPO will move the majority of its 20-person staff to the fourth floor of the Banting Building.

“U of T’s activity in commercialization and partnership-building has increased rapidly over the past two years,” says Professor Peter Lewis, Interim Executive Director of IPO and Associate Vice President, Research for U of T. “To meet this increased level of activity, we’ve been expanding our team of professionals. We simply need the space for a larger team. The Banting location will provide that and enable us to work more closely with a variety of research oriented groups.”

In the Best part of the complex, U of T will launch a major new initiative providing faculty and students with space to “pre-incubate” their research discoveries. In the field of research commercialization, incubators provide space and resources to research groups preparing to take their ideas to the marketplace.

Most of the pre-incubator tenants in Best will be groups run by graduate students. To enhance the resulting atmosphere of creative interaction, Professor Cynthia Goh, who has designed a very successful entrepreneurship program through U of T’s Institute for Optical Sciences, will expand her program to the fourth floor of the Best building. Her program will include student mentoring space as well as a digital media zone. Other tenants of the Banting and Best complex will include:

The Techna Institute for the Advancement of Technology for Health, led by Professor David Jaffray of the U of T Department of Medical Biophysics and a Senior Scientist at the University Health Network’s Ontario Cancer Institute and Princess Margaret Hospital;
The Centre for the Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine, led by Professor Peter Zanstra, a leading stem cell researcher in U of T’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering;
MITACS will locate its Ontario offices in the Banting-Best complex. MITACS is a national organization that creates opportunities for post-doctoral students and graduate and undergraduate students to gain experience in the field of research commercialization.

“The Banting and Best complex is bringing together the expertise of one of the most powerful innovation networks in North America,” says Professor Young. “…The positive impact we will make in areas such as stem cell research, green technology, [and] social media, promises to be astounding.”