International research collaborations and innovations that are transforming medical training and film production, and taking teaching and learning to the next level in virtual environments, have been recognized with Ontario's annual ORION Awards.

Presented at the Powering Innovation: A National Summit conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Nov. 4, the ORION Awards recognize achievements in Ontario research, education and scientific discovery.

This year's top award winners were Ryerson University and the innovative CineGrid project, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and its ground-breaking e-learning programs, and Windsor community network pioneer, Dr. Todd Sands.

Awards of Merit were also handed out to York University's CIO Bob Gagne, and Canada Research Chair in Optical Networks and professor in the School of Information Technology and Engineering at the University of Ottawa, Dr. Hussein Mouftah, an acclaimed researcher who has contributed to the development of the Internet.

Other Award of Merit winners included the Virtual Researcher on Call (VROC) program; Loyalist College's Virtual World Design Centre; and Alice (Experiments) in Wonderland: A Convergent Telematic Performance, a live digital theatrical performance collaboration involving the University of Waterloo and partners in the U.S. over advanced networks.

"This year's winners represent the cutting edge of technology and innovation, much of it pioneered right here in Ontario," says Phil Baker, President and CEO of the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION), which presents the awards.

"It's vital to celebrate these home-grown success stories and raise awareness of the phenomenal work that our scientists, researchers and educators are engaged in, and the impact it is having here at home and around the world," he said.

In accepting his award, Dr. Sands took the opportunity to challenge technology leaders involved in the provisioning of services across the ORION network, "to move that technology and the implementation of services on that backbone out to the users at the edge of these networks. Providing that measure of value and investment to the funders will really help in long term sustainability goals, and so that they become part of the foundation within communities, along with what we now see as roads, sewers and other infrastructure."

Read more about the recipients and view the photos at www.orion.on.ca/2008awards and video stream of the Nov. 4, 2008 award presentations.