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August 2004
Support Jeans for Genes with cool double-helix pin
An ultra-cool pin, showing "blue jeans morphing into a double-helix" will be the hottest accessory on Thursday, September 23, this year's designated Jeans for Genes Day in Canada. The program is the only national annual fundraising event dedicated to supporting and promoting research into the causes and treatment of, and cures for genetic diseases that affect children. People across Canada in companies, hospitals, universities and schools wear jeans to work and receive a Jeans for Genes Day pin for a minimum $5 donation. Up to 50% of admissions to pediatric hospitals are for genetic diseases. All of the money raised goes towards research into genetic diseases that affect children such as Muscular Dystrophy, Cystic Fibrosis, Juvenile Diabetes, Down Syndrome, Epilepsy and many others. Over $320,000 has been raised since the program started, in 1999. After each Jeans for Genes Day campaign, the Canadian Gene Cure Foundation circulates a Request for Applications (RFA) to Canadian scientists who specialize in childhood genetic diseases. An accredited panel of scientists judge the proposals based upon the excellence of the research and the funds are distributed accordingly. The competition is open to all researchers who meet the guidelines set by the Canadian Institute for Health Research. Dr. Eyal Grunebaum, a researcher with the Hospital for Sick Children received $40,000 from the proceeds of last year's campaign, for instance. To donate or to get involved, visit www.jeansforgenes.ca.
CANARIE promotes uptake of funded projects
Now that all four of its application and project funding programs have been wound down, CANARIE is inviting the broad research and education community to a series of workshops to show the results of the projects its has funded over the years, and to help the projects move forward by encouraging uptake of the initiatives. Project leaders will present their achievements and future plans to potential customers, strategic partners, investors, adopters and funders. The initiatives to be profiled - many in Ontario - represent some of Canada's most innovative and ground-breaking projects, involving collaboration between researchers, educators and industry. The events are scheduled for Halifax, Vancouver and Toronto, starting in Halifax September 7. Over 40 exhibitors are already confirmed for the Toronto session, Nov. 3 and 4 at the Toronto Congress Centre. Learn more and download description of the projects and workshop agenda at www.canarie.ca/conferences/fall_series/index.html.
Learning from video games technology
Can video game technology be applied in areas of legitimate e-learning? That was one of the more intriguing themes explored at this year's Summer Institute on Learning Technologies. Some 30 senior educators and officials from throughout Ontario participated in the annual three-day workshop, presented by the Office for Partnerships for Advanced Skills (OPAS). Now in its sixth year, the workshop is meant to assist university and college instructors in improving their teaching through the use of new technologies. Participants receive information on new approaches and "hands-on" experience with developing learning products. Hosted by Sun MicroSystems at its Markham headquarters and co-sponsored by IBM, this year's event looked at the impact of learning technological applications on higher education. It also sought ideas to help shape future directions and projects in e-learning. In a session on the use of broadband technology in teaching and learning, ORION President and CEO Phil Baker called on the participants to champion the use of ORION and collaboration over global research and education networks at their institutions. "This is your network," he said. OPAS also presented awards for innovation in e-learning content. Recipients included Gail Ecker & Virginia Gray of the University of Guelph, Christian Blanchette of the University of Ottawa, and Gwen Wojda of Lakehead University. Dr. Jan Donio, Director Learning Technology for OPAS, said "the OPAS summer institute is one of the few venues where industry and university e-learning experts focus on how innovations in technology can improve teaching and learning." Learn more at the OPAS web site at www.opas-partnerships.com.
Contact North/Contact Nord launches e-learning platform
Training, Colleges and Universities Minister Mary Anne Chambers and Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci joined students and community leaders in Sudbury and Thunder Bay August 9, as the first learners to participate in a virtual classroom hosted by Contact North's new real-time e-learning technology platform, powered by Centra Software. ORION President and CEO Phil Baker was on hand and ORION Project Director Sam Mokbel participated by teleconference from Toronto. ORION provides the connectivity between Thunder Bay and Sudbury to support the new e-learning platform. The new platform brings together voice, video, data, graphics and other rich multimedia and tools to facilitate interactive group learning and collaboration over the Internet. "Distance education is a cost-effective way to provide access to education and training programs in more than 100 small and remote communities across Northern Ontario," notes Maxim Jean-Louis, President & Chief Executive Officer of Contact North. For many communities, Contact North is the only means to access post-secondary education opportunities without having to leave their communities. It provides an opportunity for learners to pursue their education goals and upgrade their skills while continuing to make an economic and social contribution to their community. In addition to the new learning platform, new computer workstations have been installed in each of Contact North's access centres, located in more than 100 small and remote communities across Northern Ontario. The new service will be available starting in September.
David Lindsay new President of ACAATO
David Lindsay, former Principal Secretary to the Premier, is the new President of the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario (ACAATO). "We are pleased to have an experienced and dedicated public servant of David's caliber join us at ACAATO. Mr. Lindsay's experience as former President of the Ontario Jobs and Investment Board will be invaluable as the college system helps advance the important skills training and economic development agenda in communities across the province", said Dr. Rick Miner, President of Seneca College and Chair of ACAATO's Committee of Presidents. Prior to joining ACAATO, David Lindsay was the President of the Ontario SuperBuild Corporation for four years. He spent a total of 20 years at Queen's Park including more than two years as Principal Secretary to the Premier from June 1995 to September 1997. Ontario's college system serves 200 communities, employs about 30,000 people, serves about 150,000 full-time and 350,000 part-time students annually and has more than one million graduates. Most of Ontario's colleges of applied arts and technology and college institutes of technology and advanced learning are already or will soon connect to the ORION network.
CANARIE publishes results of E-Health program
Reporting back on the success of its E-Health Program, from which funded projects "have changed the way healthcare is delivered in Canada," CANARIE has released a report on the CANARIE and Canada Health Infoway "Models of Telehealth" Workshop in Montreal earlier this year, which showcased the results of the projects. Some 21 projects were funded under the CANARIE funding program, launched in 1999, to facilitate the development of innovative, leading-edge medical and health-related applications. The CANARIE Program came to an end March 31, as Canada Health Infoway Inc. began initial investments within its Telehealth mandate. CANARIE and Canada Health Infoway co-hosted the 'Models of Telehealth' Workshop in Montreal earlier this year, to showcase the results of 21 E-Health Projects. The purpose of the workshop was to learn what was accomplished, what benefits were realized, and what lessons, advice and knowledge should be shared with the next generation of Telehealth users and developers. The workshop report, which outlines findings from the projects, including several in Ontario, can be downloaded at www.canarie.ca/conferences/telehealth/index.html.
US funds middleware in fight against Alzheimer's
Financial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) is helping develop middleware to support groups of researchers in neuroscience, physics and other fields to apply the power of grid-based computational resources in the study of Alzheimer's disease and the analysis of particle collisions. Spanning 14 universities and 22 research groups in the US, the growing Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN) is establishing the cyberinfrastructure, or integrated information technology configuration, needed to facilitate health care research for large-scale data sharing and analysis. The ability to share and compare massive data sets such as MRI brain scans or high-resolution electron microscopy images is essential to participants' research into Alzheimer's disease, depression, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis and other disorders. Learn more at www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/newsroom/pr.cfm?ni=101.
UOIT professor designs satellite payload
Oshawa's University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) has bragging rights this summer as one of its own celebrates the recent launch of Telesat Canada's $600M Anik F2 - the world's largest and most powerful commercial communications satellite. Dr. Ali Grami, associate professor at UOIT's Faculties of Engineering and Applied Science and Business and Information Technology and former senior advanced systems specialist at Telesat Canada, was lead researcher and principal designer of Anik F2's advanced Ka-band satellite payload. Anik F2 is the first satellite to fully commercialize the Ka frequency band, a breakthrough satellite communications technology for delivering cost-effective broadband interactive multimedia services. Anik F2 will extend the reach of high-speed Internet services to areas un-served or under-served by terrestrial networks, all across North America. Ottawa has pledged to make Canada the world's "most connected" nation and plans to provide connectivity to far and mid-north communities. High-speed service will be available to consumers after testing, in about three months. Dr. Grami's research interests are in satellite, wireless, and multimedia communications. He received his Ph.D., M. Eng., and B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, McGill University, and the University of Manitoba respectively, all in Electrical Engineering.
McMaster signs on to Flintbox - to market early stage research
Hamilton's McMaster University is the latest institution to sign on to the Flintbox platform, a new service dedicated to marketing and licensing the outcomes of research in Canadian universities. An online platform for facilitating the sharing of early stage research results between collaborators in and around publicly funded research institutions, Flintbox technology was developed at the University of British Columbia and launched in 2001. Flintbox director of licensing Bob De Wit says that prior to Flintbox, as much as 98 per cent of all research results - "non-patentable stuff" - was effectively ignored by existing technology transfer practices." Our thinking as that we needed to get something started for these types of research outcomes," he says. Through Flintbox, researchers can benefit from marketing, distribution and licensing of their inventions, no matter what stage of development. Products can be software, shareware, freeware or any other research material. For instance, users of the McMaster service can download a demo version of the Human Biochemistry CD ROM or purchase the course for a modest fee. The McMaster Algorithm for Freeway Incident Detection, developed under contract to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, is licensed free to users. Other Ontario institutions licensed to use or have posted to Flintbox include the University of Guelph, the University of Ottawa and the University of Western Ontario. Find out more at www.mcmasterflintbox.ca.
Pharmaceutical donates mass spectrometer
A leading pharmaceutical has donated a $300,000 high-resolution mass spectrometer to the University of Waterloo's Department of Chemistry. The donation by Merck Frosst Canada & Co. will support health, biochemical and biomaterials research at the university. "This is a wonderful example of the university-industry synergy that is now so critical in furthering fundamental research in Canada," said UW President David Johnston. "Merck Frosst supports excellence in research in Ontario through a number of important donations, grants and fellowships. This particular donation is another tangible example of private sector investment in Canada's research community," said Dr. Robert Young, Merck Frosst Vice-President of Medicinal Chemistry. Mass spectrometry is one of the most powerful techniques for determining the structure of new chemical and biochemical molecules and entities. Prior to the donation, UW chemists and biochemists had to perform mass spectrometry research at other facilities across Canada. Areas of health research include the design and construction of new molecules leading to the development of novel therapeutics, such as new antibiotics for combating life-threatening bacterial infections and drugs for treating cancer, diabetes and stroke.
Rock shelters "biggest story never told"
Why are penthouse apartments the most coveted and expensive? New research published by Guelph University botanists argues that cliffs and rock shelters have played a vital role in the evolution of humans. "The seeds of the concrete canyons, urban centres, suburbs and farms of our own creation were sown a million years ago," says professor Douglas Larson, of the Cliff Ecology Research Group. He and associates Uta Matthes, Peter E. Kelly, Jeremy Lundholm and John Gerrath have just published "The Urban Cliff Revolution", which concludes that our species is as dependent on cliffs and rock shelters today as we have been for the past million years. "We're the first ones to put the entire story together showing the broad array of effects created by people having exploited rock shelters. It's the greatest story never told," he says. Throughout human evolution, cliffs and their associated rock shelters and caves have provided safe refuge from harsh natural environments and predators. "When humans started making dwellings, we copied the features of caves. Locations we prefer today, like corner offices or penthouse apartments, have the same qualities that were found more desirable in the rock shelters of our ancestors," he says. For more information, visit the Department of Botany website at www.uoguelph.ca/botany/index.htm
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