Organization: Government of Alberta

TRTECH (TRLabs) folds after 30-year run

TRTech, formerly TRLabs, is ceasing operations after 30 years following withdrawal of support from backing provinces. The decision to close the pan-prairie information and communications technology innovation organization comes just three years after a name change. The Edmonton-based TRTech expanded to Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg in the 1990s, becoming one of the largest R&D…

Alberta carbon tax supports biofuel plant

Alberta is drawing on revenues from its carbon tax to help SBI BioEnergy finalize construction of a $20-million biorefinery that produces renewable fuel that is virtually indistinguishable from diesel. SBI has spent the last three years scaling up a processing technology to convert non-food canola oil and waste fats into renewable diesel, gasoline and jet…

WD funds Carbon Research Institutes field station

Western Economic Diversification Canada is providing $4.9 million for the creation of a field research station (FRS) to accelerate technology development and performance validation related to carbon capture and storage. The FRS project is led by the Containment and Monitoring Institute, the first of a planned series of institutes under the CMC Research Institutes banner.…

WD funds Carbon Research Institutes field station

Western Economic Diversification Canada is providing $4.9 million for the creation of a field research station (FRS) to accelerate technology development and performance validation related to carbon capture and storage. The FRS project is led by the Containment and Monitoring Institute, the first of a planned series of institutes under the CMC Research Institutes banner.…

Alberta innovation system realignment proceeding

The Government of Alberta is moving ahead with its planned overhaul of S&T assets with the creation of four new corporations and a successor to the Alberta Science and Research Authority (ASRA), which has been replaced by the Alberta Research and Innovation Authority). Under the umbrella brand of Alberta Innovates, the four corporations are: Technology…

SAIT unveils design for huge trades and tech complex

More than three-quarters of funding has been secured for SAIT Polytechnic‘s $445-million Trades and Technology Complex slated for the institute’s Calgary campus. The 70,000-sq-m complex will add 3,600 new student spaces to SAIT’s enrollment when it opens in 2012, addressing the province’s long-term labour requirements. Three buildings will be dedicated to skills training in energy,…

Xerox and NINT team for collaborative research

The Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) and the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) have entered a multi-year research collaboration to develop nanotechnology-based R&D with commercial potential. Billed as Canada’s first private-public nanotech research partnership, the collaboration will see the partners devote $4.5 million over three years to develop research teams that will establish targeted…

Alberta announces $30M for agricultural R&D

The Government of Alberta has injected $29.8 million into agricultural R&D to assist in the transfer of new techniques and technologies into the sector. The Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund will receive $18 million and the Alberta Livestock Industry Development Fund will receive $10 million for activities such as market development, R&D, food safety and…

Nanotechnology institute names first staff members

The National Institute of Nanotechnology (NINT) – a joint venture between the National Research Council, Government of Alberta and the Univ of Alberta (U of A) – has appointed the first researchers to its staff. Six professors from the U of A have been cross-appointed giving them equal status at both organizations. And a professor…