Ministry of Research & Innovation Archives | Research & Innovation

91��ɫ becomes 17th member of MaRS Innovation

fmaquito — Mon, 09 May 2011 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ has become the latest member of , the commercialization agent for many leading Toronto-based universities, hospitals and research institutes.

“91��ɫ has become one of Canada’s fastest-growing centres for research and innovation,” said Stan Shapson (right), vice-president research & innovation at 91��ɫ. “We 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’re confident that membership in MaRS Innovation will boost that number and accelerate the commercialization of 91��ɫ’s most promising research.”

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

Joining MaRS Innovation will further extend 91��ɫ’s commercialization contacts. In less than two years, MaRS Innovation has assessed more than 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.

“We’re thrilled that 91��ɫ has decided to become one of our members." said Rafi Hofstein, president & CEO of MaRS Innovation. "91��ɫ’s national and international reputation for groundbreaking discoveries is growing quickly, and many of their research initiatives are highly complementary to the technologies that we’ve been helping to commercialize over the past two years.”

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’s (MRI) and Ottawa have provided essential financial support for Proof of Principle programs – 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’s 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��ɫ University.

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Adaptive Software Systems Research Laboratory seeking Post-Doctoral Fellow

fmaquito — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0000

The Adaptive Software Systems Research Laboratory is seeking a Post-Doctoral Fellow with expertise in computer science. The position is funded by the Ministry of Research & Innovation's Post Doctoral Fellowship program (click and scroll down for the program requirements). More details, including salary details and how to apply, are available in the Research Jobs section.

Please note that only resumes submitted through the described process will be considered.

The posting closes May 31, 2011.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

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91��ɫ launches commercialization presence in 91��ɫ Region

fmaquito — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 10:00:00 +0000

If collaboration across industry, academic and public sectors is key to bridging Canada’s innovation gap, how do you make university research more accessible to the people and organizations who need this expertise?

91��ɫ has answered this challenge by launching (IY). Strategically located in 91��ɫ Region, IY is the public face and conduit between 91��ɫ 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; Markham-Unionville MPP Michael Chan; Frank Scarpitti, mayor of the Town of Markham; Ontario's Minister of Research & Innovation Glen Murray; Richmond Hill MPP Reza Moridi; 91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri; and 91��ɫ 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��ɫ Region’s Regional Innovation Centre, which was officially opened yesterday by Ontario's Minister of Research & Innovation Glen Murray.

“91��ɫ is proud of our partnerships with governments, academic institutions and industry,” said 91��ɫ President and Vice-Chancellor, Mamdouh Shoukri. “This collaborative approach allows our researchers and industry stakeholders to engage and share ideas, a concept that complements 91��ɫ’s interdisciplinary approach to research and learning.”

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

“91��ɫ is 91��ɫ Region’s research and innovation university,” said Stan Shapson, vice-president research & innovation. “We 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’s presence throughout 91��ɫ 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.”

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

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

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

As part of the province-wide ONE network, VentureLab will give entrepreneurs access to a broad range of experts – including researchers, academics, businesses, government and investors – 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��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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91��ɫ psychology prof awarded Sloan Research Fellowship to study episodic memory

fmaquito — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ psychology Professor Shayna Rosenbaum has been awarded a 2010 Sloan Research Fellowship, which she says will help take her work on episodic memory to a new level, not otherwise possible at this early stage in her career.

“The award provides me and my students with the flexibility to continue a line of research that might be considered to fall slightly beyond the boundaries of traditional memory research,” says Rosenbaum.

“The primary focus of my research has been on the nature and function of episodic memory and its relationship to other types of memory. It has implications for other aspects of cognition, such as future planning, decision-making and inferring other people’s mental experiences, that are not normally considered to be part of memory, and which I hope to study along with my students.”

Left: Shayna Rosenbaum

Rosenbaum studies three general types of memory – episodic, semantic and spatial – and how they relate to one another. Episodic memory, the ability to re-experience the details of personal life events, is the type Rosenbaum has focused on most recently, particularly how neural damage affects it. Semantic memory is knowledge about the world that is not tied to any one event, and spatial memory helps people find their way in any given environment.

Rosenbaum takes an innovative approach to memory research by combining neuroimaging methods, like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), with neuropsychological testing of patients who have damage to the medial temporal lobes and prefrontal cortex. In this way, she is able to investigate how memory for personal experiences and the experiences of other people are organized in the brain, how such representations break down following neurological disease and how other aspects of cognition are affected by their loss.

“It’s an examination of questions that are of interest to those studying neuroscience as well as evolutionary theory, human development, behavioural economics, clinical populations and general issues relating to human nature and consciousness,” says Rosenbaum.

She was one of 118 outstanding early career scientists, mathematicians and economists selected for a Sloan Research Fellowship by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The winners are faculty members at 56 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada who are conducting research at the frontiers of physics, chemistry, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematics and neuroscience.

“The Sloan Research Fellowship is meaningful in that an international body of scientists, both within and outside the field of neuroscience, has recognized that research aiming to better understand memory and how it is organized in the brain might be both clinically and theoretically important,” says Rosenbaum, who teaches in 91��ɫ’s Department of Psychology in the and the Neuroscience Graduate Diploma Program. She has also been an associate scientist at the at since 2005.

Her work is supported by the , the and a New Investigator Award from the .

The Sloan Research Fellowships have been awarded since 1955, initially in only three scientific fields – physics, chemistry and mathematics. Since then, 38 Sloan Research Fellows have gone on to win the in their fields.

Grants of $50,000 for a two-year period are administered by each Fellow’s institution. Once chosen, Sloan Research Fellows are free to pursue whatever lines of inquiry are of most interest to them and they are permitted to employ Fellowship funds in a wide variety of ways to further their research aims.

For more information, visit the Web site or 91��ɫ’s Cognitive Neuroscience Lab Web site.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a philanthropic, not-for-profit grant-making institution that supports original research and broad-based education in neuroscience, technology, engineering, mathematics and economic performance.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Researchers developing next generation of data analysis and visualization tools

fmaquito — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000

$11.5 million interdisciplinary project includes computer scientists, vision scientists, designers, artists and social scientists at 91��ɫ, OCAD and U of T, with 14 industry partners

How do you look at millions of genomic patterns and see the diagnostic implications? How do you assimilate satellite data to better predict and visualize the effects of global warming, pollution, and weather patterns? How can you chart the global migration of millions of people under slavery? How do you assess the impact millions of blog entries have had on the print media economy? How do you sift global intelligence reports to identify the real threats?

Each day, humanity poses thousands of similar questions as we produce massive data sets in every field − but as the data grows, the challenge becomes translating this data for the human senses and delivering the best analysis to solve real-world problems.

The Centre for Innovation in Information Visualization and Data-Driven Design (CIV-DDD), led by 91��ɫ in partnership with the (OCAD), promises to develop the next generation of data discovery, design, and visualization techniques by developing new computational tools, representational strategies, and interfaces.

The $11.5 million five-year project brings together a unique multidisciplinary team of over 50 researchers from 91��ɫ, OCAD, the University of Toronto, 14 industry partners, and significant international collaborators.

(left), Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision and Distinguished Research Professor of Vision Science at 91��ɫ, is the project’s principal investigator. , professor of artificial intelligence and data mining in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, will co-lead 91��ɫ’s team of 14 researchers, who include , professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, and , Canada Research Chair in Digital Culture and associate professor of film in the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Sara Diamond, visualization design researcher and president of the Ontario College of Art & Design, will lead OCAD’s team of 12 researchers, who include Vladimir Spicanovic, dean of the Faculty of Art, and Greg van Alstyne, professor in the Faculty of Design and director of Research, Strategic Innovation Lab.

has provided over $3.8 million in funding through the Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence Program; industry partners will contribute over $3.6 million, with the remaining $4.1 million coming from the project’s institutional partners.

“Humans’ capacity to interpret sensory stimuli is limited, which is why the human processing strategy is to attend to the relevant and ignore the irrelevant,” says Tsotsos. “Determining what’s relevant is a key task. Equally important is discovering how best to present such data in a form that is quickly and effectively understood. By combining our team’s expertise in computer science, design, digital media, visual perceptual science, fine arts, and the social sciences, CIV-DDD will discover and provide new visualizations for underlying patterns, processes, and relationships within data sets. These in turn will suggest new research directions and applications, laying the foundation for a new wave of knowledge creation and technological products.”

CIV-DDD formalizes many existing research collaborations, both within 91��ɫ’s faculties and departments and among researchers at 91��ɫ, OCAD, and U of T. “In the new paradigm of data-driven discovery, art and design researchers have a profound role to play in partnership with scientists, making the invisible visible, heralding a new era of knowledge, cultural creation, and technological products,” said Diamond. “This preeminent research hub for the development of next-generation data visualization techniques is unique in its level of interdisciplinary fire power, strong collaboration with end-users and international links. It aggregates and extends much successful collaboration amongst the researchers, and between OCAD and 91��ɫ.”

Many techniques and technologies developed by research groups associated with CIV-DDD will become resources for the entire team as they focus on new data-driven design and information visualization solutions in four thematic areas:

bioinformatics and medicine
fine and performing arts
engineering and physical sciences
humanities and social sciences

Collaboration between industry and academia is crucial to the project’s success. “Platform Computing is honoured to support the CIV-DDD project and provide the students and researchers at 91��ɫ and the OCAD with cutting-edge technologies to explore and create the next generation of visualization solutions and services and help them tackle scientific, social and human challenges,” said Jingwen Wang, vice-president, products, at . “Collaboration and information sharing are fundamental to academic research and Platform products enable researchers and students to easily collaborate and manage data and resources to capture, simulate and analyze their results.”

CIV-DDD’s industry partners highlight its wide applicability across sectors, including:

Mass media and communications studies, ethnography, and cultural studies −
Enterprise and knowledge management businesses −
Technology service providers − , , and
Physics −
Sustainable, intelligent systems, and green technology −
Computer and communication technologies − , , and
Entertainment and Web-related industries − , , and
Research and innovative presentation −
Business intelligence work − and
Mobile technology and applications developers − Zameen
Medicine and bioinformatics − U of T’s , the , and McMaster University’s

“CIV-DDD responds both to a dramatic paradigm shift in the health, social and economic challenges facing Canadians and the need for more research capacity and state-of-the-art infrastructure in this region,” said Stan Shapson, 91��ɫ’s vice-president Research & Innovation. “It also builds on the existing strengths of 91��ɫ’s , the Institute for Research on Learning Technologies in the Faculty of Education, and in the Faculty of Fine Arts, among others.

“By leading the Consortium on New Media, Creative, and Entertainment R&D in the Toronto Region (CONCERT), 91��ɫ and its partner universities and industries identified the preconditions necessary to develop a high-end visualization industry in Ontario. This unique collaboration will help fulfill one of CONCERT’s long-term objectives, which was to grow the region’s entertainment, screen-based and other innovation-driven creative industries into a globally competitive cluster.”

CIV-DDD will also support Ontario’s economy by producing innovative technology for commercialization, such as new:

data-mining algorithms
3D-vision and 3D-modeling technologies
data-display tools and protocols
visualization-design methods and techniques
data-inquiry paradigms
user-friendly interfaces that can be scaled to a variety of screen displays
new aesthetics and research practices

“We’re proud of the cutting-edge work that our researchers do at 91��ɫ and the wealth and jobs they create in 91��ɫ West and across Ontario,” said , MPP for 91��ɫ West. “New discoveries will continue to be made and we want those people, those ideas and those jobs right here in our community.”

CIV-DDD is one of 21 projects funded by the Ontario Research Fund–Research Excellence program, which has provided almost $69.5 million to support more than 214 researchers in seven cities across Ontario. The Ontario Research Fund is a key part of the province’s Innovation Agenda, a $3.2 million strategy designed to move world-class research from the lab to the global marketplace in key areas such as life sciences, digital media, and green energy to ensure Ontario will be among the 21^st Century’s winning economies. The Research Excellence program helps develop Ontario’s research talent while ensuring Ontario researchers have the operating funding they need to undertake world-leading projects.

For a full list of funded projects, visit MRI’s .

91��ɫ’s researchers:

John Tsotsos, Canada Research Chair in Computational Vision, distinguished research professor of vision science, Faculty of Science & Engineering, and member of the Centre for Vision Research (CVR)
Nick Cercone, professor of artificial intelligence and data mining, Faculty of Science & Engineering
Amir Asif, associate professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering
Caitlin Fisher, Canada Research Chair in Digital Culture and assistant professor of film, Faculty of Fine Arts
Robert Allison, associate professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering
Melanie Baljko, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering
James Elder, associate professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and a member of CVR
Jimmy Huang, associate professor of information technology, Faculty of Science & Engineering
Michael Jenkin, professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering and a member of CVR
Jennifer Jenson, associate professor of pedagogy and technology, Faculty of Education
Paul E. Lovejoy, distinguished research professor in the Department of History and Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History
Don Sinclair, professor and coordinator of Fine Arts Cultural Studies, Faculty of Fine Arts
Wolfgang Stuerzlinger, associate professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering, and a member of CVR
Nell Tenhaaf, associate professor, Department of Visual Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, and associate dean, Graduate Studies, Research, Planning, in the Faculty of Fine Arts.
Laurie Wilcox, associate professor of psychology and biology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health and associate director of CVR
Richard Wildes, associate professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Faculty of Science & Engineering

OCAD’s researchers:

Sara Diamond, visualization design researcher and president of the Ontario College of Art & Design
Vladimir Spicanovic, dean, Faculty of Art
Greg van Alstyne, professor, Faculty of Design and director of research, Strategic Innovation Lab
Patricio Davila, assistant professor, Faculty of Design
Paula Gardner, associate professor, Faculty of Liberal Studies
Julian Goss, professor, Faculty of Design, and chair of Industrial Design
Anda Kubis, associate professor, Faculty of Art, and chair of Drawing and Painting
Martha Ladly, associate professor and director of the Interdisciplinary Art, Media and Design Program
Francis LeBouthillier, sculpture and installation artist and chair of Sculpture and Installation
Laura Millard, associate professor, Faculty of Art
Luke Painter, assistant professor, Faculty of Art
Barbara Rauch, assistant professor, Digital Futures Initiative, Faculty of Design
Suzanne Stein, associate professor, Digital Futures Initiative, Faculty of Design

U of T’s researchers:

Ravin Balakrishnan, associate professor of Computer Science and Canada Research Chair in Human-Centred Interfaces in the Department of Computer Science
Karan Singh, associate professor of Computer Science, Department of Computer Science

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer. Photos courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Math prof receives grant to study West Nile virus and global warming

fmaquito — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ math Professor Huaiping Zhu is working on understanding why there are outbreaks of the West Nile virus some years and not others. What goes into the mix – temperature, precipitation, mosquito population – to trigger the exact conditions needed for the virus to thrive?

Knowing the answer could help in the development of mosquito density and control strategies as well as improvements to the current surveillance system for West Nile virus and other vector-borne diseases that may emerge, not only in Ontario, but across the country. It could also lead to a real-time warning system and better disease management by public health agencies.

Recently awarded a $100,000 research grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Zhu will conduct a two-year research project, "Modeling and Risk Assessment of West Nile Virus Transmission Under Global Warming", as part of PHAC’s Pilot Infectious Disease Impact & Response Systems Program and its Clean Air Agenda. The objective is to conduct data mining and analysis, develop models for expected mosquito density given certain meteorological and environmental conditions, and establish a set of threshold conditions and criteria that are likely to be present before and during an outbreak.

Left: Huaiping Zhu

“Part of the pilot project is related to seeing how climate change will affect the virus in Ontario,” says , a professor in 91��ɫ’s Department of Mathematics & Statistics. Warmer weather makes a more conducive environment for mosquito breeding and virus incubation, and that holds true for other vectors as well. With global warming, mosquitoes are likely to expand their range and spread the virus into new areas.

In Ontario, there have been two outbreaks of the West Nile virus – one in 2003 and another in 2007. The curious thing about those two outbreaks, says Zhu, is “we didn’t have the maximum amount of mosquitoes in those years.” It seems counterintuitive that the outbreaks would occur during times when mosquitoes were not at peak levels. That, he says, may indicate that temperature and precipitation play a larger role in driving the spread of the disease than previously thought.

Zhu has the West Nile virus incidence data from the Ministry of Health & Long Term Care, the study’s collaborator, as well as the data on the temperature and amount of precipitation in Peel Region in Ontario since 2002. The first case of West Nile virus appeared in Ontario in 2001, with surveillance data collecting beginning the following year. With the data, Zhu and his research team can create models to assess the most likely scenario of when incidents of West Nile virus will surge. Once they have an idea of what is happening in Peel Region, they hope to expand the research to all of Ontario and eventually Canada. Part of the difficulty will be the narrow time frame Zhu has to work with each year – 16 weeks when mosquitoes are active in Ontario.

The preparation of the data has already been done using 91��ɫ’s Laboratory of Mathematical Parallel Systems (LAMPS) as part of Zhu’s 2007 Ministry of Research & Innovation research project, "Modeling, Surveillance, Prediction and Control of West Nile Virus in Ontario". LAMPS is a high-power parallel computing lab in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, which Zhu, along with 91��ɫ Professors Steven Wang and Zijiang Yang, set up using a $250,045 grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and a matching grant from the Ontario Innovation Trust.

Zhu now needs to design models to plug the data into, which will hopefully tell him more about how the virus is spread to birds and the optimum temperature and amount of precipitation needed for an outbreak to occur. Another, part of the equation is mosquito reproduction and how that fluctuates with the weather. Then the information will need to be analyzed.

The whole idea, says Zhu, is to discover “what are the conditions that are needed to cause the West Nile virus.” To do this, it’s imperative to understand how the climate influences the host. “Only when this is clear, can we go on from there,” he says. Then they can begin to understand some of the other variables, such as how different landscapes affect mosquitoes across the country, what their preferred habitat is and whether it is true for all species of mosquito, and how the rate of evaporation plays into the equations.

“For that part it is more complicated,” says Zhu. “So depending on the results from the first part, we will know if it will be possible to develop it into a larger project taking into account those other factors.”

Although West Nile virus was first isolated in Uganda in 1937, it has progressively spread to Egypt, Israel, South Africa, Europe and North America.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Reprinted courtesy of YFile, 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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