Some of the world's best and most innovative researchers, educators and technology leaders are right here in Ontario.
Each year, we present the ORION Awards to innovators to recognize their achievements as champions of advanced technologies in research, teaching and learning. They are committed to driving innovation and next-generation research and education in Ontario.
This year's awards were presented at the ORION Summit, at the MaRS Atrium in Toronto on Monday, April 12, 2010. We invite you to learn more about the winners and the award presentation.
Nominations for the next ORION Awards will open soon and be announced shortly...
Winners of the 2010 ORION Awards
Read the official news release...
ORION Leadership Award
Dr. Mehran Anvari
Dr. Mehran Anvari (centre) accepts his award, presented by Reza Moridi (left), Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Research and Innovation, and Maxim Jean-Louis (right), President and CEO of Contact North/Contact Nord and ORANO Board Chair.
A creative visionary and acknowledged leader in the fields of minimal access surgery, telerobotic surgery and telementoring, Dr. Mehran Anvari is a Professor in the Department of Surgery at McMaster University, and Scientific Director and CEO of the Centre for Surgical Invention and Innovation, and Director of the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery (CMAS). Through CMAS, the first of its kind in Canada, Dr. Anvari has promoted the use of minimal access techniques in all surgical specialties and has focused on improving patient outcomes, minimizing the physical, emotional and financial impact of surgical procedures on patients and reducing hospital admissions and the associated costs. Dr. Anvari is one of the first surgeons in Canada to use robotics in surgery, and in 2003 he established the world's first telerobotic surgical service linking St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton and North Bay General Hospital.
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Bill St. Arnaud
CANARIE President and CEO Jim Roche (centre) accepts the ORION Leadership Award on behalf of Bill St. Arnaud, presented by Maxim Jean-Louis (left), President and CEO of Contact North/Contact Nord and ORANO Board Chair and Reza Moridi (right), Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Research and Innovation.
Former Chief Research Officer for CANARIE Inc., Canada's Advanced Research and Innovation Network, Bill St. Arnaud was responsible for the coordination and implementation of Canada's next generation optical Internet initiatives from CA*net 2 through to CA*net 4. He was also an early advocate for developing Canada's cyber-infrastructure strategy linking together advanced networks, high performance computing and instrumentation to enable a new generation of eScience. Currently, he is involved with a Green IT broadband and cyber-infrastructure initiative to build a "zero-carbon" next generation Internet, intended to help reduce global warming by reducing CO2 emissions. He is working with various R&E networks around the world to develop new Green IT revenue strategies and to explore how these networks can become the linchpin of building a low carbon economy.
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ORION Discovery Award
High Performance Computing Virtual Laboratory (HPCVL)
HPCVL Executive Director Dr. Kenneth Edgecombe (centre) accepts the ORION Discovery Award, presented by Reza Moridi (left), Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Research and Innovation and Maxim Jean-Louis (right), President and CEO of Contact North/Contact Nord and ORANO Board Chair.
Based at Queen's University, HPCVL is a cluster of fast and powerful Sun computers involving a partnership of five Ontario universities and three colleges, all interconnected over the ORION network. It is accessible from anywhere in Canada, providing researchers with the secure HPC resources they need to do innovative research that will help build Canada's economy while providing high return on capital investment for government and industry. In addition to reliable, secure computing, HPCVL provides storage resources and support for over 130 Canadian research groups, comprising some 800 researchers, working in a variety of fields.
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ORION Learning Award
Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN)
Executive Director Deb deBruijn (far left), Board Vice Chair Michael Ridley and members of the Canadian Research Knowledge Network with their ORION Learning Award.
A partnership of Canadian universities dedicated to expanding digital content for the academic research enterprise in Canada. For over 10 years, CRKN has enabled interdisciplinary collaboration among Canadian and international researchers, most recently with a state-of-the-art the Digital Content Infrastructure project to secure access to social sciences and humanities content. This scholarly content adds to the science and technology content originally licensed, all of which is accessible to the desktops of over 850,000 students, researchers and faculty across every region of Ontario, and across Canada.
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ORION Learning Award of Merit
Toronto District School Board's "Academic Workspace"
From left to right: Maxim Jean-Louis, President and CEO of Contact North/Contact Nord and ORANO Board Chair; from the Toronto District School Board, Vincent Ma, Jey Jeyarajan, Zain Bhamjee and Marlena Rivett; and Reza Moridi, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Research and Innovation.
The Academic Workspace (AW) is the Toronto District School Board's powerful K-12 web platform that enables collaboration and interactions among students, teachers, school staff, principals and parents using 21st century technology tools. Focused on student outcomes and successes across all programs, AW extends and enhances teaching and learning from a "chalk board" to a "virtual" experience through its numerous secure anytime-anywhere tools, which include online school and classroom spaces, wikis, blogs, project spaces, discussion boards, chat rooms and video-conferencing.
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