Now, with the introduction of an industry liaison manager and a commercialization manager to the unit, in addition to the existing research agreement staff, Innovation 91亚色 is better able to develop relationships with companies at a much earlier stage in the research process in order to effectively facilitate research collaborations and the negotiation of agreement terms.

As the commercialization and industry liaison office for 91亚色, Innovation 91亚色 offers services to faculty, trainees and industry within four service streams: agreements, industry liaison, commercialization, and entrepreneurship and start-up acceleration. Within the agreements stream, Innovation 91亚色 manages the agreement process on behalf of researchers and 91亚色 in order to effectively facilitate research projects and commercialize innovation.

Through the agreements stream, Innovation 91亚色 works with the Office of the Counsel to negotiate with third parties in order to protect the researchers right to publish, protect confidential information, protect researchers from liability, clarify intellectual property rights for researchers and their students and ensure that the collaboration is aligned with university policies.

The number of research agreements at the University is on the rise. In 2006, 91亚色 facilitated 226 research agreements compared to 348 in 2011. To date in 2012, 356 research agreements have been completed and $28 million in research funding has been transferred to 91亚色 through research agreements managed by Innovation 91亚色.

鈥淭he increase in the number of research agreements at 91亚色 is a good indication of the growth in research activity,鈥� said Robert Hach茅 (right), 91亚色鈥檚 vice-president research & innovation.听 鈥淲e are seeing a larger number of faculty members who are receiving funding and working in collaboration with external partners.听 Innovation 91亚色 is committed to helping researchers facilitate these agreements, through its suite of comprehensive services.鈥�

Agreements enable the receipt and transfer of funding, the sharing of research materials, data, and confidential information, participation in collaborative research projects, partnering with commercialization organizations and out-licensing innovations to industry.

The majority of the agreements executed by the Innovation 91亚色 agreements stream are funding agreements, bringing money into the University for research projects. Of those funding agreements the following was the breakdown of funding sources for 2011:

Research agreements may be warranted when researchers want to send material to an external party, send information or data to an external party, send money to an external partner for participation in a research project (excluding the transfer of tri-council grant funding, which is completed by the Grants & Applications unit in the ORS), have a confidential conversation, or collaborate with another researcher or research partner.

For more information, contact Sarah Howe, director of Innovation 91亚色 at showe@yorku.ca or ext. 20579.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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Commercialization and industry liaison services at 91亚色 in the past聽have been delivered via two units: the Intellectual Property & Research Agreements unit (IPRA) within the Office of Research Services and an industry liaison unit called Innovation 91亚色 located at the Markham Convergence Centre. IPRA supported commercialization activities and research agreements, whereas Innovation 91亚色 focused primarily on developing relationships between 91亚色 faculty members and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) within the 91亚色 region. The arrangement created a聽difficult environment for faculty members and industry to navigate.听

The Markham Convergence Centre

Following an environmental scan of best practises in Canadian universities, the division of the VPRI聽developed a plan to combine and expand upon the services of the two units under the unifying banner of Innovation 91亚色. The 鈥渘ew鈥� Innovation 91亚色 will provide increased support and enhance coordination of the commercialization activities and the development of relationships between academic researchers and industry.

鈥淚 am pleased to announce an expansion of services under the umbrella of Innovation 91亚色. The unit aims to provide an integrated suite of services to the 91亚色 research community, in order to facilitate research, translate research outcomes, and continue to develop a culture of industry-engaged scholarship,鈥� said Hach茅.听 鈥淲e value the research partnerships we have made throughout the past year and hope to continue to further develop our existing partnerships and new ones, both in 91亚色 region and within the broader global community.鈥�

Robert Hach茅

Under the leadership of Sarah Howe, the new Innovation 91亚色聽will set聽out to create a strategic office within the division of the VPRI that supports the interaction between faculty members, trainees and industry in a multitude of ways including, the management of agreements, the facilitation of innovative research partnerships and internship opportunities, commercialization of intellectual assets, and the support of entrepreneurship and start-up acceleration activities.

As the new commercialization and industry liaison office for 91亚色, Innovation 91亚色 provides services to faculty members, trainees, and industry within four service streams:

• Agreements - Innovation 91亚色 will manage the agreement process on behalf of researchers and 91亚色 in order to effectively facilitate research projects and commercialize intellectual assets.
• Industry Liaison聽- Innovation91亚色 will initiate and foster relationships between91亚色 faculty members, trainees, and industry, in order to create actionable research projects infused with industry-research dollars.
• Commercialization -聽Innovation 91亚色 will work with faculty members and trainees to assist them with commercializing their intellectual assets, in order to maximize the social and economic impact.
• Entrepreneurship & Start-up Acceleration聽- Innovation 91亚色 will provide accelerator space within the Markham Convergence Centre for faculty and trainee start-up companies, in order to provide a professional place of business.

In order to ensure that this suite of services is robust and effective, Innovation 91亚色 will enlist the assistance two key external partners: MaRS Innovation and VentureLab.

MaRS Innovation (MI), an organization that commercializes some of the key research breakthroughs from 16 of Toronto鈥檚 top universities, medical institutions, and research institutes. MI selects key discoveries from91亚色and in collaboration with Innovation 91亚色, advances their commercialization path through industry partnerships, licensing arrangements and spin-off companies. MI leverages its assets, along with government funds and other member resources, to develop and commercialize these high-potential technologies.

VentureLab is the regional innovation centre within the 91亚色 region. Innovation 91亚色 and VentureLab work together to support faculty and student entrepreneurs as they incorporate and grow startup companies. In addition, the two organizations work together to create innovative research partnerships between academic researchers and VentureLab clients.

The new Innovation 91亚色 aims to build on these existing partnerships and work to provide broad opportunities for faculty members and trainees to obtain regional, national, and global industry support for their own academic research and commercialization opportunities.

For additional information, please contact Sarah Howe, director, Innovation 91亚色, at showe@yorku.ca or ext. 20579.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Come out and meet Robert Hach茅,聽the new vice-president research & innovation,聽and learn more about research services at 91亚色.

Staff聽from聽the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, the Office of Research Services, the Office of Research Ethics, Research Accounting, Procurement Services, Innovation 91亚色聽and the Faculty of Graduate Studies will be at the open house to answer questions related to research services.

If you are interested in attending, organizers ask that you submit your 聽no later than Oct. 5.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Volunteers will be needed on Saturday, September 24, 2011, from 9:30 a.m. to聽2 p.m.听at the Markham Convergence Centre, 7271 Warden Ave., in Markham, ON.

For more information, please contact Angela Magro at 416-736-5780 or ange@yorku.ca

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The event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Markham Convergence Centre, 7271 Warden Ave., in Markham, ON.

Please see the for more information聽or .听

For more information or partnering opportunities, please contact Brigitte Sharpe, Communications & Events Programing Manager at ventureLAB: bsharpe@venturelab.ca or by phone: 905-248-2735.

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鈥�91亚色 has become one of Canada鈥檚 fastest-growing centres for research and innovation,鈥� said Stan Shapson (right), vice-president research & innovation at 91亚色. 鈥淲e typically get 10 to 20 discovery disclosures a year. Joining MaRS Innovation allows us to deliver the most competitive commercialization services to the researchers making these discoveries. We鈥檙e confident that membership in MaRS Innovation will boost that number and accelerate the commercialization of 91亚色鈥檚 most promising research.鈥�

Earlier this year, 91亚色 launched its office. Based in 91亚色 Region, Innovation 91亚色 works with other partner organizations in the Markham Convergence Centre to build upon research partnerships between 91亚色 researchers and life science and technology companies based in 91亚色 Region and the Greater Toronto Area. It鈥檚 also making 91亚色鈥檚 research and infrastructure more accessible to industry, government agencies and community partners.

Joining MaRS Innovation will further extend 91亚色鈥檚 commercialization contacts. In less than two years, MaRS Innovation has assessed聽more than聽400 research disclosures from members such as the University of Toronto and its 10 affiliated teaching hospitals, as well as Ryerson University.

MaRS Innovation has begun to line up investment funding to take the discoveries with the greatest commercial potential to market, creating companies and jobs, and starting industries. In 2011 alone, MaRS Innovation has spurred the creation of five new enterprises based on the groundbreaking discoveries of its members.

鈥淲e鈥檙e thrilled that 91亚色 has decided to become one of our members." said聽Rafi Hofstein, president聽& CEO of MaRS Innovation. "91亚色鈥檚 national and international reputation for groundbreaking discoveries is growing quickly, and many of their research initiatives are highly complementary to the technologies that we鈥檝e been helping to commercialize over the past two years.鈥�

To become a member of MaRS Innovation, an academic and research organization must have intellectual property in life sciences (drug discovery, medical devices, diagnostic imaging, etc.), information and communications technologies (ICT), cleantech and digital media.

MaRS Innovation is supported by the Government of Canada through the (NCE) to focus on turning inventions into real commercial opportunities. Both the Province of Ontario鈥檚 (MRI) and Ottawa have provided essential financial support for Proof of Principle programs聽鈥� NCE, through the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, funded the turning of inventions into real commercial opportunities; and MRI, through Ontario Centres of Excellence, has been supporting MaRS Innovation鈥檚 Proof of Principle (PoP) program.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of MaRS Innovation Public Relations department and Media Relations at 91亚色 University.

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Titled 鈥淕ame Changers: How local innovations are creating a new 鈥榖usiness as usual'鈥�, the (YTA) showcase encouraged participants from industry, academia and government agencies to display discovery research and innovations through six-minute Lightning Lectures and a hands-on Demo Lounge.

91亚色 Professor , chair of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, presented the 91亚色-led Centre for Innovation in Information Visualization and Data-Driven Design (CIV-DDD). The project, which involves researchers in the Faculties of Fine Arts and Science & Engineering, along with graduate students and other industry and academic partners, promises to develop the next generation of data discovery, design and visualization techniques by developing new computational tools, representational strategies and interfaces.

Right: 91亚色 Professor Amir Asif, second from left, chats with visitors at the 91亚色 Technology Alliance's Solutions Showcase event

Professor and a group of undergraduate students from her laboratory in the Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering displayed 91亚色鈥檚 Mars rover and spoke about their successful involvement in international Mars rover competitions. A group of graduate students from Professor 鈥檚 laboratory in the School of Information Technology, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, also spoke about their recent research.

MBA students Navneet Budhia, Boris Chan, Vitaliia Rubinovitch, Eli Ilatov and Shakti Kumar from the Schulich School of Business鈥� (EVCG) also participated; their members apply their skills to help local entrepreneurs grow their businesses. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really important for students to get off campus and interact with real companies,鈥� said Budhia, president of EVCG. 鈥淭his is where academia and industry meet to create value for both the companies and the students.鈥�

Left: The Mars rover was on display at the showcase and was accompanied by a team of undergraduate students from the Department of Earth & Space Science and Engineering

Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation, agreed. 鈥淯niversities usually expect companies to come to our campus,鈥� he explained. 鈥淏y co-locating with industry organizations like YTA and creating a presence in the for our service unit, , 91亚色 is sending a very powerful message to our partners. We鈥檙e helping industry enhance and forge new connections to 91亚色鈥檚 research and training capacity, which demonstrates our openness to collaboration.

鈥淧aradoxically, we鈥檙e finding that it鈥檚 sometimes easier to get students and researchers to interact at our new 91亚色 Region home in the MCC than it is on our main campus.鈥�

Other showcase participants included the and , 91亚色 Region鈥檚 recently announced Regional Innovation Centre. 91亚色鈥檚 participation in the YTA Solutions Showcase was made possible by a Regional Opportunities Fund grant from NSERC.

The 91亚色 Technology Alliance聽Showcase was one of many ongoing events at the MCC that provide faculty and students with opportunities to seek research collaboration and internships with industry. 91亚色鈥檚 also runs programs and services at MCC providing a space to support collaboration with 91亚色 Region community organizations and municipal agencies.

To learn more about Innovation 91亚色, contact Dan Lynch, manager of industry liaison.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

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The May business mission is a partnership between the Town of Markham, the Regional Municipality of 91亚色, 91亚色 and Miller Thomson LLP. It will focus on positioning the Markham Convergence Centre as the launching pad for graduates of Israel's technological incubators seeking to enter the North American market.

Strategically located in 91亚色 Region, (IY) is the between 91亚色 researchers and their applied research partners who will collaboratively grow their ideas and introduce new products and services to the marketplace.

Part of the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, IY is primarily based in the .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile , 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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91亚色 has answered this challenge by launching (IY). Strategically located in 91亚色 Region, IY is the public face and conduit between 91亚色 researchers and their applied research partners who will collaboratively grow their ideas and introduce new products and services to the marketplace.

Above: From left, Peter Pekos, chair of VentureLab;聽Markham-Unionville MPP聽Michael Chan; Frank Scarpitti,聽mayor of the聽Town of Markham; Ontario's Minister of Research & Innovation Glen Murray; Richmond Hill MPP Reza Moridi; 91亚色 President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri; and 91亚色 Vice-President Research & Innovation Stan Shapson

IY will provide commercialization and knowledge mobilization services to industry, public sector organizations and academic researchers while playing a strong role in supporting VentureLab, 91亚色 Region鈥檚 Regional Innovation Centre, which was officially opened yesterday by Ontario's Minister of Research聽& Innovation Glen Murray.

鈥�91亚色 is proud of our partnerships with governments, academic institutions and industry,鈥� said 91亚色 President and Vice-Chancellor, Mamdouh Shoukri. 鈥淭his collaborative approach allows our researchers and industry stakeholders to engage and share ideas, a concept that complements 91亚色鈥檚 interdisciplinary approach to research and learning.鈥�

Right: Click on the photograph to view a Flickr slideshow of images from the opening of the Markham Convergence Centre and Innovation 91亚色

鈥�91亚色 is 91亚色 Region鈥檚 research and innovation university,鈥� said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淲e have a critical role to play in collaborating with entrepreneurs, industry and municipal partners to develop new ideas, products and services that will help Ontario gain a competitive advantage in the global economy. IY鈥檚 presence throughout 91亚色 Region will make the world-class expertise of over 1,500 researchers integral to accelerating R&D growth and strengthening communities where people want to work and enjoy a high quality of life.鈥�

IY鈥檚 location in the , along with VentureLab and other key collaborators, presents unique opportunities.

鈥淎cross 91亚色 Region, there are impressive sectoral strengths in information technology, environmental technologies and the life sciences, particularly in medical device technologies,鈥� said Shapson. 鈥淐ombined with Canada鈥檚 fastest growing and most diverse population base, this presents a particularly compelling case for innovation. Through our presence in 91亚色 Region, IY will be positioned to better understand our partners鈥� needs within the economic and social ecosystems they operate within as we explore new ways to work together to mutual advantage.鈥�

鈥淭he strength of Ontario鈥檚 creative environment, diverse culture, highly skilled workforce, world-class education system, internationally recognized research community and proven entrepreneurs is second to none,鈥� said Murray. 鈥� links these talents together across the province to ensure all great ideas have the opportunity to flourish聽鈥� creating jobs and improving our lives now and in the future.鈥�

As part of the province-wide ONE network, VentureLab will give entrepreneurs access to a broad range of experts聽鈥� including researchers, academics, businesses, government and investors聽鈥� who can help sell an innovative idea, bring it to the marketplace and grow a business worldwide.

Submitted by Elizabeth Monier Williams, research communications officer

Photos and video republished courtesy of Jenny Pitt-Clark, editor of YFile, 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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With the challenge of a changing external context for research in Canada 鈥� both a shifting economic and social cultural environment鈥� a new view of innovation is taking hold and a recognition of the value of collaborations across the spectrum of research is emerging.

Effective collaboration as a part of R&D strategies will provide for significant gains in competitive advantage in innovation and productivity growth for Canadian businesses. While more and more business leaders are recognizing the potential benefits of research collaboration, universities must take up this challenge as well. It's critical for universities to build a more comprehensive and sustainable approach to strengthening research opportunities with external partners.

While it is important that universities develop the skills, talent, and creative and innovative capacity to enhance productivity in the new global economy, building new models to meet these challenges will require collaboration and teamwork at all levels and across all value chains.

Increasingly, the government has recognized the importance of enhanced R&D collaborations and invested in them. However, these increased investments have had difficulty in producing effective public and private sector linkages, resulting in a significant innovation gap 鈥� remaining a fundamental challenge for the government.

The difficulty is that the availability and distribution of research funds are increasingly tied to strategic science and technology priority areas. But so much of what drives social change and fuels the modern economy is also derived from social sciences and humanities (SS&H) disciplines. Companies in these sectors (e.g., communications, design, management, law, etc.) have complex challenges and those that derive their primary knowledge inputs from the social science and humanities disciplines account for about $700B (58 per cent) of GDP output, and yet a significant proportion of the research dollars are going to science and technology (S&T) companies that support about $431B (42 per cent) of GDP outputs.

If Canada is going to remain competitive in the new knowledge economy we must heighten collaborative research and development across a broader suite of research areas.

91亚色's innovation and partnership strategy takes a broader focus, contributing not only our S&T research but also leveraging the work of our SS&H scholars. 91亚色 has established significant and sustainable community and regional innovation programs with partners in 91亚色 Region.

The region is the sixth-largest municipality in Canada, with a growing population of 1.2M. It also serves as the centre-point of Canada鈥檚 leading technology corridor, poised to contribute as a significant innovation and commercialization hub given its strong base of IT/software and medical devices/biotechnology companies. It is home to nearly 50 per cent of the medical device technology companies in Canada.

To capitalize on our proximity to 91亚色 Region, 91亚色 is currently working actively to form a unique consortium, establishing a Convergence Centre for the development of next generation medical device technologies in Markham. 91亚色 works with a variety of regional partners on the social innovation side, including the United Way of 91亚色 Region, regional hospitals, and regional school boards.

To grow and foster new and varied collaborations, a new unique innovation facility that 91亚色 is developing as part of the convergence centre 鈥淚nnovation 91亚色.鈥� It will have the capability of both mobilizing social innovation research as well as S&T innovation and commercialization. This infrastructure will actively promote research opportunities that build on the research strengths across the university, address the needs of our partners and support the incubation of the most promising innovative ideas.

The key to fostering ultimate research success, whether in the public or private sector, science and technology or the social sciences and humanities, is a shared philosophy and belief in the value of true collaboration and its power to open new areas of opportunity and innovation.

Read the complete post on .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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