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How it looks to me....

And what's displayed is a degree of emphasis on S&T not seen in recent memory, if at all, keeping Ottawa's tea leaf readers working overtime. But as one observer quickly added to his praise of the throne speech, the devil is in the detail. Will government raise the funding for public research and science out of recognition for the growing need for such activity, or will they also demand their pound of flesh? To what degree will economic considerations drive the new spending of the next budget, as opposed to social or environmental benefits?

We've already seen a battle royale waged over the issue of commercialization in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which was thankfully resolved without degrading the focus of that monumental endeavour. Now government is set to introduce legislation enabling CIHR, and it has indicated that several other strategically important proposals are being positively received. So much for the vision, now show us the money.

FEATURE REPORTS...

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RESEARCH BRIEFS

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• Synergy Awards for Univ-Ind'y R&D Partnerships
  
• Feds and province fund $5.6M SMARTpark at Univ of Manitoba
  
• Calgary Technology Centre doubling in size to 6,000-sq-m
  
• CFI makes $11M in awards, announces $362M competition
  
• Virtual Prototypes nabs $2.6M in development funding from TPC
  
• ITF Optical completes work on new manufacturing facility
  
• DynaMotive receives 3rd party validation for BioOil process
  
• NRC's bioinformatics network gives lift to Genome Canada
  
• StressGen starts research program for allergy and asthma therapy
  
• Neurochem receives orphan drug status for Fibrillex compound
  
• McGill Univ and New York Univ participate in an Internet first
  

Synergy Awards for Univ-Ind'y R&D Partnerships There was a decidedly Western flavour to the 1999 Synergy Awards for University-Industry R&D Partnerships, which have been announced in advance of the Conference Board of Canada's 1999 Innovation Conference. Offered with the financial participation of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Synergy '99 Awards carry a $10,000 research grant to each of the university partners. This year's award recipients are: Alberta/Pacific Forest Industries Inc and the Univ of Alberta, for a natural forestry management model; Consortium for Research in Elastic Wave Exploration Seismology and the Univ of Calgary, for collaboration in underground imaging; Syncrude Canada Ltd and the Univ of Alberta for collaboration on oil sands technology and processes; Universal Dynamics and the Univ of British Columbia for development of an adaptive controller for use in process industries; Falconbridge Ltd and the Univ of Waterloo for collaboration on approaches to treat and prevent acid mine drainage; and, Canadian Microelectronics Consortium its unique model of partnership for research into microchip technologies, chip development and training....

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Feds and province fund $5.6 M SMARTpark at Univ of Manitoba The federal and Manitoba governments are contributing $5.6 million for a research park on the Fort Garry campus of the Univ of Manitoba. The so-called SMARTpark will be used to foster industry-academic collaboration for the development and commercialization of new technologies. Areas of focus include advanced materials and manufacturing, pharmaceutical and agricultural biotechnology, information technology and telecommunications, and resource-based, value-added products and processing. The federal government is contributing $2.8 million through Western Economic Diversification and the economic development partnership agreement with the province. Manitoba is providing the remaining half through the Manitoba Economic Innovation Technology Council....

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Calgary Technology Centre doubling in size to 6,000-sq-m Escalating demand for technology commercialization and incubation services has prompted the Calgary Research and Development Authority to undertake a doubling of the Calgary Technology Centre. The 6,000-sq-m expansion, which will be completed next July, is in response to double digit annual growth in the city's high tech sector. Companies leasing space will also gain access to CR&DA staff for mentoring, marketing, educational linkages, capital sourcing and networking. The new portion of the facility will offer smart offices, laboratories and prototype development facilities. The centre is located in the University Research Park close to the Univ of Calgary. In addition to a large anonymous donation, the $7-million expansion is being funded with debt financing, funding assistance from Western Economic Diversification and a provincial grant through the Alberta Science and Research Authority....

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CFI makes $11M in awards, announces $362M competition The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has awarded $11 million for 64 projects in 26 universities and colleges, leveraging an additional $16.5 million from other sources. The awards were made under the New Opportunities Fund (56 projects worth $8.6 million) and the University Research Development Fund (eight projects worth $2.4 million). The funding announcement comes little more than one week after the CFI launched the largest competition in its history. Applicants have until December 10 to file a letter of intent, with full applications due March 3/2000. The CFI is putting $362 million up for grabs ($350 million under the Innovation Fund and $12 million through the College Research Development Fund) to fund projects worth $900 million....

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  Virtual Prototypes nabs $2.6 M in development funding from TPC Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) has invested $2.6 million in a new generation of an avionics software tool being developed by Virtual Prototypes Inc (VPI), Montreal. Dubbed Da Vinci, the tool will provide aircraft manufacturers with tools they need to incorporate 3-D graphics, haptic and voice recognition systems in their designs. The technology may also have applicability for automotive firms requiring high-quality visual displays such as in-car electronic devices. The 14-year old VPI expects to add 20 jobs during the project's development phase, and another 40 during the seven-year commercialization phase. The firm is known for its real-time user interface and simulation software products. It currently employs nearly 100 people and counts more than 350 companies as clients....

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  ITF Optical completes work on new manufacturing facility ITF Optical Technologies, St Laurent PQ, will be adding up to 80 engineers and technicians to its 110-strong workforce, following completion of a new manufacturing facility. The two-year-old developer and manufacturer of photonic components for the telecommunications sector completed the $10-million facility with a $630,000 grant from Investissement-Québec. The North American photonic component market is expected to reach US$1 billion by 2005....

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  DynaMotive receives 3rd party validation for BioOil process Vancouver's Dynamotive Technologies Corp has received third-party validation of its BioOil production process, a clean fuel developed for use in stationary diesel engines, gas turbines and boilers. The technical and operational due diligence was conducted by Stone & Webster Inc, a US-based engineering firm. It deemed the technology reliable and scalable and recommended the next stage in a scale-up to commercial production levels. The pyrolosis technology, which turns low-value forest and agricultural waste into a petroleum-like liquid, has been licensed to Resource Transforms International Ltd, Waterloo ON....

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  NRC's bioinformatics network gives lift to Genome Canada The National Research Council's Canadian Bioinformatics Resource (CBR) is proving to be of invaluable assistance to Genome Canada's bid for federal funding in the next Budget. The Halifax-based CBR is billed as the world's first gigabyte network and connects the NRC's six biotechnology institutes. When upgraded to CA*net 3 by the end of the year and combined with the work proposed under Genome Canada, it could give Canada's genome researchers a major competitive advantage. The possibility of combining the CBR and Genome Canada was featured in an article which ran in the October issue of Nature Biotechnology. While the article mistakenly stated that Genome Canada's funding has already been approved, it did outline the possibilities such a combination represents. Once upgraded CBR will initially boast speeds of 1 gigabit per second and serve as the cornerstone for Canada's molecular biology and biotechnology research infrastructure. The CBR currently hosts Genome Canada's website. It is preparing for a major increase in demand by undertaking an ambitious bioinformatics training initiative in conjunction with the Canadian Genetic Diseases Network and the Biotechnology Human Resources Council....

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  StressGen starts research program for allergy and asthma therapy StressGen Biotechnologies Corp has entered a collaborative research program focusing on protein-based allergy and asthma therapy with the National Jewish Medical and Research Centre, Denver CO. StressGen will provide the centre with US$500,000 to use stress proteins to help stop the immune system of allergic individuals from overreacting to foreign proteins known as allergens. The Victoria- based firm has also consolidated its intellectual property position in the asthma and allergy fields with the acquisition of several licences. Preclinical trials show StressGen's technology can reduce levels of cytokines which fuel allergic reactions, lowering congestion and itchy eyes (allergies) or reduced bronchoconstriction and pulmonary inflammation....

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  Neurochem receives orphan drug status for Fibrillex compound Montreal-based Neurochem Inc has received orphan drug designation status from the US Food and Drug Administration for Fibrillex, a drug under development for treatment of patients suffering from secondary amyloidosis. Under the provisions of the Orphan Drug Act, Neurochem will receive seven years of market exclusivity following the drug's approval, tax incentives for clinical research, research study design assistance and possible access to grant funding to defray costs of qualified clinical testing. The market potential for Fibrillex is only US$180 million a year. Fibrillex has already undergone toxicity and pharmacokinetic investigations in animal species and is advancing to Phase II/III trials, which should be completed in 18-24 months. Neurochem was founded in 1993 on a novel series of compounds that inhibit the formation, deposit and toxic effects of amyloid fibrils on cells within the body. R&D focuses on Alzheimer's disease, Secondary Amyloidosis and Diabetes Type II....

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  McGill Univ and New York Univ participate in an Internet first Telecommunication networking researchers at McGill Univ and New York Univ have completed the first international, multi-channel live audio transmission over the Internet. The two real-time demonstration took place at NYU's Cantor Film Centre in New York City and were carried over the US Abilene high-speed research network and CA*net 3, the all-fibre network established by CANARIE Inc. The underlying software for the demonstration was developed at McGill by a team comprised of several members of the Audio Engineering Society Technical Committee on Network Audio Systems led by Jeremy Cooperstock. The transmissions featured dance and music performances in New York and Montreal....

In other news, CANARIE has signed an agreement with Mexico's Corporacion Universitaria para el Desarrollo de Internet to provide interconnectivity between the two nations' advanced research networks. It's expected the agreement will lead to collaborative projects among respective members....

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PERSONALITIES

Gabriel Silberman has been appointed chair of the board of directors for Communications and Information Technology Ontario, an Ontario Centre of Excellence. Silberman is the program director for IBM Canada Ltd's Centre for Advanced Studies. He replaces Bruce Friendship, president of Bayly Communications who decided to vacate the position after two years.

Dr Gregg Van Volkenburgh has been appointed director of business development for Photonics Research Ontario, an Ontario Centre of Excellence. Van Volkenburgh draws on expertise developed while assisting several photonics enterprises from the research stage through to full operation, licensing and other aspects of technology transfer.

Steve Palmer has been appointed director of national initiatives for the NRC's Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP). In the new position, Palmer is responsible for national vision and leadership to coordinate services of IRAP and the Canadian Technology Network. He will contribute to policy and strategic direction, and manage a team of 20. In other IRAP appointments, Marielle Piché becomes a director of program support, a role she has performed on an interim basis since May/98. Piché will be responsible for managing program administration and corporate development services, and a team of 19. She joined the NRC in 1977....

Judy Bishop has been appointed principal, strategic marketing with KPMG's Information, Communications and Entertainment Group. Based in Vancouver, Bishop has been principal of Bishop & Co since 1990, offering strategic market consulting to a wide range of technology firms. She is a founding director of the BC Technology Industries Association and has helped produce its BC Technology Report Card reports. KPMG is the largest professional services firm in BC and delivers services from its network of firms in more than 150 countries....

Jean Colpin has been appointed VP engineering at Pratt & Whitney. A 14-year veteran of the firm, Colpin will be responsible for R&D activities designed to enhance and develop new products for the aviation market in Canada. He holds a MA in mechanical engineering and a PhD in fluid dynamics from the Univ of Liège in Belgium....