Author: Rebecca Melville

Univ of Guelph receives $20 million donation from Arrell Family Foundation

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The Univ of Guelph has received a $20-million gift that will be matched by the university to create a new food institute. The donation was made by the Arrell Family Foundation, founded in 1999 by U of G alumni Tony and Anne Arrell. The Arrell Food Institute will assemble cutting-edge research, agricultural expertise, big data…

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US companies performed 18% of their R&D in foreign countries

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US companies performed US$395.6 billion in R&D in 2013, 18% ($73.1 billion) of which was performed in other countries, according to the latest data from the National Science Foundation. The closely watched manufacturing sector accounted for the bulk of industry R&D outlays ($272.6 billion/68.9%) led by computer and electronics products ($85.5 billion) and pharmaceuticals and…

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Ford hires Blackberry engineers and opens Ottawa R&D centre

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The Ford Motor Co, Dearborn MI, is hiring 400 engineers from Blackberry Ltd as part of a formal partnership struck last October to boost its expertise in automotive connectivity and mobility underpinning self-driving vehicles. The agreement will see the automaker establish a Research and Engineering Centre in Ottawa — home to Blackberry’s QNX division —…

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TRIUMF Innovations launches UBC-based facility’s commercialization arm

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TRIUMF has revamped and renamed its commercialization arm in a bid to boost the industrial uptake of its research and discoveries. Formerly known as Advanced Applied Physics Solutions Inc (AAPS), TRIUMF Innovations will be led by recently recruited Kathryn Hayashi who previously served as the founding CFO of the Centre for Drug Research and Development…

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Canada lacks the institutional structure to invest in the future

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Budget 2017 promises $125 million to launch what it calls a Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy by promoting collaboration between centres of excellence in Montreal, Toronto-Waterloo and Edmonton. This, it says, will “position Canada as a world-leading destination for companies seeking to invest in artificial intelligence and innovation.” What’s missing as Canada seeks to position itself for the future, and this is critically important, is any institutional capacity to prepare Canadians more broadly for the future.

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Siemens and NB Power growing smart grid innovation cluster

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By Debbie Lawes This article is from the March 2017 issue of Canadian Innovation News. You can read the full issue here. Sometimes it takes a looming challenge to spur innovation. That’s what happened in New Brunswick about seven years ago when a strategic review revealed that the province’s century-old utility would be unable to generate enough electricity, or purchase…

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Atlantic marine life facing oxygen crisis

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This article is from the March 2017 issue of Canadian Innovation News. You can read the full issue here. Although there is a range of environmental conditions in which an animal can survive, there is an even smaller range of conditions in which it can thrive. New research from the national Marine Environmental Observation Prediction…

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Michael Tremblay

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Michael Tremblay has been appointed president and CEO of Invest Ottawa effective March 2, filling the position that has been vacant for nearly a year following the departure of inaugural president Bruce Lazenby after a five-year term. Tremblay comes to the city’s innovation and economic development agency from Microsoft Canada where he was VP public…

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Dr Santa Ono

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Dr Santa Ono, president of the Univ of British Columbia, has been appointed chief advisor of the province’s freshly minted Innovation Network linking industry to post-secondary institutions. During Ono’s first year, he will focus on talent, research and innovation, and super-clusters. This will involve working in conjunction with the Premier’s Technology Council to: develop and…

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Tara Cosgrove

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The Canada Revenue Agency has appointed Tara Cosgrove as DG responsible for the Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit program. Cosgrove replaces acting DG Hélène Marquis who assumed the role when former DG Lucie Bergevin departed in 2016. Prior to her appointment, Cosgrove was corporate secretary of CRA’s strategy and integration branch.

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