Town of Markham Archives | Research & Innovation

91��ɫ participating in Science Rendezvous festival in Markham May 6-8

fmaquito — Wed, 04 May 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wanted to make a DNA banana necklace, watch a robot chasing light or attempt to walk on water? Asked :

, Ontario’s largest public science festival, returns to Markham Village next Saturday, with the goal of making science more accessible.

“This is bringing science to the community as opposed to having the community come to a hospital or university site,” said Corinne Sperling, outreach manager for the Faculty of Science & Engineering at 91��ɫ.

The Markham Village BIA co-organizes the event and pays for the bulk of the cost, but the University and the Town of Markham’s economic development department contribute as well.

For some people, science is intimidating, Ms Sperling said. “We want to be engaging, interactive." The event caters to all ages.

. . .

Science Rendezvous will share space with the official grand opening of Main Street Markham Farmers Market. You can do your Saturday local produce and prepared foods market shopping while enjoying the science entertainment. The opening begins at 11 a.m. The event will also feature live entertainment and a barbecue.

Science Rendezvous runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 132 Robinson St. at Main Street North, two lights north of Hwy. 7. The Photovore Maze Race is 1 to 3 p.m. at Markham Sylvan Learning Centre at 96 Main Street N. (Lower Level).

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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91��ɫ partners with life science trade mission to Israel

fmaquito — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Members of Markham council will go on a trade mission to Israel to participate in the Israel Life Science Industry Biomed conference in Tel Aviv, May 20 to 29, wrote :

The May business mission is a partnership between the Town of Markham, the Regional Municipality of 91��ɫ, 91��ɫ 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��ɫ Region, (IY) is the between 91��ɫ 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��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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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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Professor Mark Winfield: GTA's urban growth raises important questions

fmaquito — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ environmental studies Professor Mark Winfield of the Faculty of Environmental Studies, who sits on a provincial smart growth advisory panel and studies urban sustainability, said the Star’s analysis – the first of its kind – raises important questions about how the 2006 Places to Grow plan is playing out, Jan. 15, in a story about growth plans recently unveiled by the GTA’s four regions and 25 municipalities, and Ontario’s Places to Grow scheme to curb urban sprawl:

“On the surface, (the plan) may have given municipalities too much flexibility and enabled some of them to deviate less from the traditional path than the plan sought to and they needed to,” said Winfield. “You’ve got some strong responses in places like Markham. Toronto itself has stepped up. But in other places the response is somewhat weaker,” he said, after poring over the Star’s numbers. “Mississauga is quite striking. You clearly have leaders thinking in a more ambitious and creative way, and you have others who are basically wedded to the sprawl model and trying to respond to the province within that framework.”

Brampton, Winfield points out, pre-empted the growth plan by designating the entire area inside its city limits for urban expansion – including vast stretches of farmland – so it wouldn’t have to justify allowing new growth outside what’s termed the “urban boundary.”

Winfield said the province still needs to do a deeper analysis that looks at what’s happening across the GTA: not just the densities being planned, but also the population allocations and the kind of communities being planned.

He says it’s time to assess the impact of the province’s massive interventions in regional planning, including creating the Greenbelt – which made a huge swath a no-go zone for developers – and Places to Grow, which oversees what’s left.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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91��ɫ researchers receive $10 million in funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

fmaquito — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Researchers, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at 91��ɫ have been awarded over $10 million from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The grants, part of $190.5 million in funding and awards invested across the country, will support over 220 innovative 91��ɫ research projects to improve Canadians’ quality of life while addressing important socio-cultural and economic issues.

“SSHRC’s investment in humanities and social sciences research allows our scholars to substantially contribute to Canada’s knowledge base, to culture and to quality of life,” said Stan Shapson (right), 91��ɫ’s vice-president research & innovation. “This basic research helps us to better understand the world while responding to the pressing social issues of our time.”

Forty-seven 91��ɫ faculty members received $4.4 million to fund their research projects through ’s Standard Research Grants program. 91��ɫ also received over $560,000 to support 17 projects funded through the:

Research Development Initiatives competition
Image, Text, Sound and Technology competition
International Opportunities Fund
Aid to Research Workshop competition

Graduate students and doctoral fellows also benefited from the announcements: 148 91��ɫ master’s and doctoral students have won over $5 million in scholarships and fellowships. More than 2,000 graduate and postdoctoral projects across Canada received funding.

Reflecting knowledge mobilization’s status as a core SSHRC priority, the competition also included special calls for Public Outreach Grants that support existing and ongoing projects that mobilize research results to a range of audiences beyond academia. Nine 91��ɫ projects were funded, securing over $1 million for the University.

In this category, 91��ɫ researchers enjoyed a 67 per cent success rate; in comparison, 2009 SSHRC applicants averaged a success rate of 33 per cent across all categories.

Through the Public Outreach Grants, 91��ɫ researchers will:

Make literary research available to a broader community of researchers, students, teachers and educators, and policy makers in a sustainable way through the (ORION).
Empower young mothers by exploring what they need to achieve economic, social, familial and personal wellness and prosperity.
Share research conducted with marginalized youth with educators, community organizations and other stakeholders to help them understand the alienation and disengagement new migrants and ethno-racial minority youth experience as their families move from Toronto’s inner city and inner-suburban neighbourhoods to the outer suburbs, such as Peel, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Ajax and Pickering.
Enhance microcredit program success for economic development through social performance ratings by making the information accessible and designing program evaluation instruments.
Share new scholarship on the immigration of African American refugees from slavery to Canada with educators, community groups, libraries and government agencies, among others.
Mobilize knowledge on the political economy of women’s rights—specifically, connections among macroeconomic policy, public policies that impact the paid and unpaid work of women, and women’s access to human rights—to local human rights organizations that focus on women.
Provide experts in performance making, theatre design and green technology with a three-day opportunity to share practices, approaches and technological innovations.
Mobilize the Aboriginal peoples of Canada’s disparate experiences with and knowledge of conservation by bringing together Aboriginal community representatives, academics, policy-makers, and conservation practitioners.
Inform climate change policy and practice by making climate change research and evidence available to policy partners in four GTA municipalities (, , and ), and the .

“These awards also build upon 91��ɫ’s amazing success earlier this year in SSHRC’s large-scale collaborative competitions,” said Shapson. “91��ɫ received $6 million through SSHRC’s Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI) and Community-University Research Alliances (CURA) programs. Professors Roger Keil, Pat Armstrong and Carla Lipsig-Mumme are already collaborating with their international research teams to study global suburbanisms, long-term residential healthcare, and work in a warming world.”

“Their work, coupled with the projects funded through this announcement, addresses key social issues facing Canadian society while demonstrating our leadership in creating and sharing new knowledge across the social sciences and humanities.”

“Our government continues to invest in world-class research to improve Canadians’ quality of life and increase the supply of highly qualified graduates that Canada needs to be successful,” said the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry. “The social sciences and humanities show us how to harness and interpret innovation from a human perspective, which translates into benefits for society.”

has posted a complete list of funded projects on their website.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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Researcher and City Institute director shifts the lens to suburbs around the globe

fmaquito — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

The suburbs have often been dismissed as cultureless wastelands of cookie-cutter housing and strip malls. But 91��ɫ environmental studies Professor Roger Keil, principal investigator of a major international research initiative, says there’s a lot more happening in suburbia than people think and researchers have ignored it for far too long. Most urban growth these days is suburban development and yet, until now, there has not been an encompassing study of suburbs around the world which examines their challenges and commonalities.

“The suburbs have not received a lot of attention, so we’re trying to shift the lens, so to speak,” says Keil, director of the City Institute at 91��ɫ (CITY). “Urbanization is at the core of the growth and crisis of the global economy today. Yet, the crucial aspect of 21st-century urban development is suburbanization, which is defined as the combination of an increase in non-central city population and economic activity, as well as urban spatial expansion.”

Left: Suburbs being built in 91��ɫ Region. Photo by Roger Keil.

With $2.5 million in research funding through the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada’s program, Keil, along with some 43 researchers from around the globe, will study various aspects of what he likes to call the in-between city. Global Suburbanisms: Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century is “the first major research project that takes stock of worldwide suburban developments in a systematic way. By studying suburbs, we analyze recent forms of urbanization and emerging forms of urbanism across the world, but we also take into view the dilemmas of aging suburbanity,” he says. Canadian suburbanization and suburbanism trends will serve as a critical basis for understanding suburbanization in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.

What makes suburbs so important to study is their abundant growth. In the 1800s, only about two per cent of the world’s population was urbanized. That increased to about 10 per cent in the 1900s and to almost 50 per cent in the early 2000s. The suburbs are changing and growing, and, in North America at least, they are becoming the place to be. “It’s a percentage increase but also a real increase because the world population has risen dramatically,” says Keil. “More and more people don’t live in dense urban centres anymore, they live in suburbs. So now we call it suburbanization instead of urbanization.” Canada is one of the most highly urbanized countries in the world and that includes the suburbs. When people immigrate to Canada, they often move straight to the suburbs, places like Brampton and Markham, bypassing cities like Toronto altogether.

Right: Roger Keil

The question then becomes, “When we see a suburb, how do we understand it? We want to create a different way of looking at things,” says Keil. “We also hope in the process…this information becomes useful to users of suburban spaces, where they consume and produce, as well as to developers.”

By examining the governance of suburbanization, researchers will get a better idea of how development is guided and regulated, and how state, market and civil society actors are involved. The seven-year project is comprised of many smaller studies of two to four years in length. The two prime anchors will be land – housing, shelter systems, real estate, greenbelts and megaprojects – and infrastructure, including transportation, water and social services.

Keil’s own keen interest is in greenbelts and the relationships between natural and social, urban and suburban. How, for instance, does water fit in? Where does it come from, a pipe, a lake, a well? What is the relationship of suburbanization to water? How is it used? “We need to develop alternatives and this is particularly true in environmental metabolism of waste disposal, water, smog. The energy use has increased…the environmental bads growing out of suburbs have outpaced suburbanization,” he says. “We all live in one environmental global space.” There is a need to understand that interconnectivity.

Left: Suburb of Kuisebmond in Namibia, Africa. Photo by Roger Keil.

In the process of studying suburbanization, researchers will be up against the traditional biases and ingrained way people think about the areas surrounding the city core, often as urban sprawl. “We need to break down and expand the way people look at the suburbs,” says Keil. There is not just one type of suburban development. There are the squatter settlements in Africa and Latin America, the expanding outskirts of India and China, the peripheral high-rise developments in Europe and Canada, and North America’s gated communities. With the different types of development come different social and cultural norms, land-use patterns and forms of transportation. “Through one lens we say these are all suburbanizations.” Until now, there has been “no serious attempt to bring all these phenomena together.”

This project will look at the differences between central cities and suburbs, as well as the diversity of suburban development. “Suburbs are very diverse ethnically, culturally and lifestyle-wise and the gender roles are not as traditional as 'Leave it to Beaver' may have led us to believe.” People around the world have negotiated the suburban realm in a variety of different ways.

New forms of suburbanization are being created all the time. There are copycat North American suburbs in Calcutta, for instance. Keil expects that suburbs around the world have different trajectories of where they’re going and he hopes that they can learn from one another. As it turns out, all cities and suburbs are not looking like Los Angeles or Chicago, as once thought. “We’re turning that upside down,” says Keil. “Conceptually, we want to rewrite the books. The suburbs can all be understood under a number of guidelines we want to develop. So there is a common lens we can look through despite the large variety of forms we see.”

In addition to the various studies, classes, workshops and conferences will held around the world. There will be a travelling multimedia exhibition at the end, a book series and a series of documentaries produced in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada. 91��ɫ’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit will connect the research with policy-makers and community organizations over the span of the project.

Through this project, the suburbs may finally get a little respect.

For more information, visit the CITY Web site.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

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

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High-school students get an inside look at science and research at 91��ɫ

fmaquito — Wed, 12 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

On May 6, the Science in Action bus brought 30 high-school students from the 91��ɫ Region District School Board (YRDSB) to the University as part of a tour created to showcase the many opportunities that await these future scientists and entrepreneurs.

, along with the Regional Municipality of 91��ɫ, the Town of Markham and YRDSB organized the tour to educate students about the potential of medical and biotechnology research and development in the region. As part of their day, the students also visited IBM, Estée Lauder, Apotex, AMD Markham, MDS Sciex, Dalton Pharma Services, sanofi pasteur, 91��ɫ Central Hospital, Markham Stouffville Hospital and Seneca College at 91��ɫ, to see how successes of scientific and health innovation contribute to the quality of life of Canadians.

During their visit to 91��ɫ's Keele campus, the students, led by Emmanuel Matiya, a 91��ɫ student ambassador for the University's Recruitment Division, had the opportunity to tour the new Sherman Health Sciences Research Centre. The building, which is set to open this fall, is home to researchers in the health, science and engineering fields. Students toured the future labs of the Centre for Vision Research and learned how biomedical and assistive technology experiments will be conducted. With support from the Faculty of Health, the high-school students also visited the School of Nursing's resource centre to watch how nursing students can run clinical simulations on low- to high-fidelity mannequins.

“Setting the foundation for future entrepreneurship and scientific innovation is an important role that YORKbiotech plays in the growth of the bio-economy in the 91��ɫ Region,” said Janet LeClair, chief administrative officer of YORKbiotech Inc. “Through programs like the Science in Action tour we are able to demonstrate the value of collaboration by bringing students closer to research and business in various sectors.”

91��ɫ Region is in the heart of a hub of Ontario's innovative technology sector with over 120 companies involved in producing medical devices, biopharma and medical assistive devices. In addition, more than 900 companies in the information and communications technology, digital media, software and manufacturing sectors reside in the region.

YORKbiotech is a regional innovation network for biotechnology-related industries at the centre of the Greater Toronto Area. The mission of YORKbiotech is to act as a catalyst, harnessing the wealth of intellectual and technical resources to promote economic success and growth of the biotechnology and related industries as a key component of regional economic development. Read their about this event.

By Sana Mulji Dutt, research communications specialist, YORKbiotech.

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

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91��ɫ Leaderhship Roundtable gathers university, business, and community leaders

fmaquito — Mon, 10 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

The 91��ɫ Leadership Roundtable event series connects senior business executives and community leaders in 91��ɫ Region with 91��ɫ's researchers and senior administrators. Through the roundtable format, participants identify and generate ways to build upon their scientific and social innovation while sharing resources by forming research partnerships.

91��ɫRegion.com :

Great minds may think alike, but at a 91��ɫ round table Tuesday night, there was no shortage of ideas about how technology can improve business and social services in 91��ɫ Region.

“There’s something magical that happens when you’re provoked to think,” 91��ɫ Leadership Roundtable chairperson Don Cousens said.

The former Markham mayor welcomed about 50 attendees with business, human services and academic backgrounds, including 91��ɫ Region District School Board Director of Education Ken Thurston and 91��ɫ President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri.

Shoukri talked of the potential in 91��ɫ Region, particularly in Markham where a combination of information technology and health technologies and a group of creative-minded people are creating an innovation centre for medical devices.

Anthony Gallo addressed the crowd assembled in 91��ɫ’s new Research Tower first.

“The Web is about sharing. Participating in how things are shared, from a business perspective, is crucial,” the vice-president of social media said.

Communities are no longer just physical neighbourhoods, but groups formed around common ideas, he said.

CEO Daniele Zanotti agreed. “We are brothers separated at birth,” Zanotti said. “The key message is very similar, about community and the need for us to work collaboratively.”

He pointed to the five Welcome Centres opening in the region – one-stop shops for immigrant services – as an example of collaboration when United Way combined its knowledge with research from 91��ɫ and resources from 91��ɫ Region and upper levels of government.

The event was one in a series hosted by the University dating back to 2008. Each roundtable aims to give researchers, community leaders and executives a chance to dialogue about a particular theme.

The complete article is available on .

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

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91��ɫ researchers attending Markham market for Science Rendezvous

fmaquito — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

A carnival atmosphere will prevail as 91��ɫ researchers take science to Main Street Markham's Farmers' Market as part of the third annual Science Rendezvous May 8.

buskers and researchers will share the wonder of science on the street and at booths Saturday at the season opening of the food, arts and crafts market in Markham's downtown from 10am to 3pm. They will be making dry ice, testing for colour blindness, extracting DNA from fruit and demonstrating how bees help gardeners, displaying cow eyeballs and operating a mini Mars rover, among a host of fun demonstrations. There will also be science chats at The Antique Café and science art at the Tangerine Gecko Art Gallery near the .

Left: A wow moment at 91��ɫ Science Rendezvous in 2009

In the evening, 91��ɫ's Science Rendezvous shifts to the Keele campus where stargazers can view the night sky through telescopes at the 91��ɫ Observatory from 8 to 11pm.

The 91��ɫ-Markham event is part of a growing one-day festival held at schools, in malls and at cultural centres across Ontario to engage citizens in the discovery and wonder of science and research, and promote an understanding of how science affects daily lives.

91��ɫ's Faculty of Science & Engineering has participated in since the festival was launched in 2008. In the first year, 91��ɫ focused on space science (see YFile, April 10, 2008). Last year, it focused on space, energy and stem cell research and incorporated Science Rendezvous into the 91��ɫ Community Festival (see YFile, May 4, 2009) celebrating the University’s 50th anniversary.

This year, 91��ɫ takes science to Markham. It will feature:

Science busking

Hosts of and 91��ɫ students will conduct icy experiments (making dry ice, ice cream and ice bubbles), test for colour blindness and perception, and make polymers and bouncy balls.

Right: Making dry ice in 2009

Science demos

See how crystals form and make a geodesic dome. Learn how bees help your garden. Find out about DNA in your fruit and how cells develop to become Sofie the bunny. Look down a microscope at urchin eggs being fertilized by sperm. Examine cow eyeballs, a brain, a heart and other animal organs. See how water is filtered and talk about clean air. Watch a Mars rover manoeuvre through the crowds. Visit the crater pool to see how craters are made. Pet a comet.

Math & Stats game show

Test your math IQ in this skill-testing game.

Sipping science

Ever wondered why…? Now’s your chance to ask a 91��ɫ scientist that burning question and engage in informal discussion on current scientific issues hosted by Let’s Talk Science at The Antique Café, 138 Robinson St.

At the at 107 Main St. N. in Markham, see Garbage Kayak (above), a 15-foot Greenland kayak frame made from garbage and other found objects, and Mental Fabric, kaleidoscopic merging of anatomical and mathematical visual information.

To download a free mobile app and get a Science Rendezvous guide, visit the Web site and key in u6prgak.

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

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Universities need sustainable approach to strengthening external research partnerships

fmaquito — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Stan , 91��ɫ's vice-president research & innovation, recently gave a talk at a conference hosted by and the on developing strong public/private sector collaborations to create innovation.

With the challenge of a changing external context for research in Canada — both a shifting economic and social cultural environment— 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 — 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��ɫ'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��ɫ has established significant and sustainable community and regional innovation programs with partners in 91��ɫ 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’s 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��ɫ Region, 91��ɫ 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��ɫ works with a variety of regional partners on the social innovation side, including the United Way of 91��ɫ Region, regional hospitals, and regional school boards.

To grow and foster new and varied collaborations, a new unique innovation facility that 91��ɫ is developing as part of the convergence centre “Innovation 91��ɫ.” 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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