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Summer 2011
World's first carbon-free videoconferencing demo at CANARIE AGM
At the recent CANARIE annual general meeting in Montreal, the CANARIE-funded GreenStar Network team demonstrated the world's first
zero-carbon videoconference using 'follow the wind'/'follow the sun' technology. Although videoconferencing technology is often touted
as way to reduce carbon emissions from airplane and car travel, the carbon footprint of the videoconference equipment and network can
also be quite significant. The GreenStar Network demonstration clearly proved that we can run applications like videoconferencing that
need extreme reliability on a network that uses only highly unreliable renewable energy such as wind and solar power. This type of
architecture paves the way for Canadian leadership in a growing industry, as it will not only save network operators millions of dollars
in energy costs, but also reduce the carbon footprint of the global Internet - which is the fastest growing carbon emissions sector in
the world today. The demonstration linked four sites across Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver) using the GreenStar Network
'follow the wind'/'follow the sun' infrastructure riding on the CANARIE network. Learn more at
www.greenstarnetwork.com.
NSERC and CIHR boost funding for collaborative research
NSERC and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) are doubling their funding for the next competition of their joint
Collaborative Health Research Projects (CHRP) program created to accelerate the exploitation of health-related technologies through
multi-agency collaboration. These grants assist new projects that involve interdisciplinary collaborations between any field of the
natural sciences or engineering and the health sciences. Read more at
www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NewsReleases.
NSERC funding helps science, engineering grads enter workforce
An investment by the Government of Canada will give young researchers in universities across the country an opportunity to expand their
skills and help them transition from trainees to productive employees in the Canadian workforce. The projects announced today are being
funded through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)'s Collaborative Research and Training Experience
(CREATE) Program. Eighteen projects will receive a total of $29.6 million over six years to help science and engineering graduates add
job skills to their academic expertise. The projects explore a variety of research areas, including neurotechnology, clean energy,
freshwater conservation and bionanotechnology. Queen's University will receive over $1.6 million to train postdoctoral fellows, graduate
and undergraduate students in the advanced concepts of Ultra Large Scale Software—systems that process the financial, healthcare and
network connections data of millions of people worldwide. Read more at
www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NewsReleases.
NSERC funds new ICT entrepreneurship centre at Algonquin
At its recent Applied Research Day, Ottawa's Algonquin College announced a $2.3 million NSERC funding for a new entrepreneurial centre
for ICT and photonics technologies. The Full Spectra Centre (FSC) will leverage the College's technical expertise to help local
entrepreneurs, SMEs and large companies develop new products, processes and services that rely on ICT and photonics technologies. The
centre will allow Algonquin students to engage in the projects and work collaboratively with industry partners in applied research aimed
at solving concrete problems. Read more at
www.algonquincollege.ca/news.
Ryerson DMZ spin-off develops e-health card
Ontarians can now take their health records to go thanks to a smart health card tested and refined in Ryerson University's Digital Media
Zone (DMZ). Designed by graduate Arjun Kumar and former Ryerson Board of Governors member Ramesh Zacharias, the Personal Health Record
Card (pHR card) is the first product to launch from their new healthcare IT company, Kela Medical. The pHR card is a portable media
record with a built-in microchip that stores a patient's entire medical record, including medical tests, pre-existing blood work and
diagnostic imaging. All files are encrypted and protected for personal security. The card can be connected to any computer, with no
special software required so that healthcare practitioners across Ontario can view the records easily. During its stint in the DMZ,
Kela Medical took the card through the testing phase utilizing DMZ systems and employing Ryerson PhD students to identify any system
glitches and ensure safe use of the pHR card. Kela Medical has already successfully implemented the pHR card at an existing clinic and
will be launching in other clinics across Ontario in the near future. Read more at
www.ryerson.ca/news.
Free social teaching and learning platform
Sophia is a free social teaching and learning platform that offers academic content to anyone, anywhere, free of charge. The website,
which has been described as a mashup of Facebook, Wikipedia, and YouTube focused solely on education, also lets educators supplement
their teaching methods with tools to create a customized learning environment in a private or public setting. Sophia uses Web 2.0 tools
and methods to create a credible, crowd-sourced platform where information is organized in "learning packets" - bite-sized tutorials tagged
to specific academic subjects or topics, including standards-aligned objectives. The packets can be created by anyone, anywhere using
text, images, presentations, video, audio, and more. Learn more at www.sophia.org.
New postsecondary learning centre for Pickering
Centennial College and Durham College are partnering to bring a new postsecondary learning centre to the City of Pickering. To be located
at the Pickering Town Centre, the learning centre will offer graduate certificate and continuing education programs commencing with the
fall 2012 semester. Read more at www.centennialcollege.ca/news.
Register now for ABEL Summer Institute
The Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning (ABEL) Program is once again hosting its annual ABEL Summer Institute at York University, August
22 – 24, with the theme "Connected Community Learning". This year ABEL is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Delegates will investigate
the power of a connected community to effectively use technology for teaching and learning. This Summer Institute is intended as both a
guided and self-directed exploration of technologies as educational tools with learning engagement and knowledge building potential for
all. Learn more at www.abelearn.ca/ASI2011.
People News
Trent University recently appointed Dr. Neil Emery as Vice-President, Research and International, effective July 1. Dr. Robert
Haché, a molecular and cellular biologist and biochemist, was recently appointed Vice-President, Research and Innovation at York
University for a five-year term, effective July 1, 2011. Catherine (Kiki) Delaney was recently appointed Chancellor at OCAD
University. Dr. Jane Aubin was recently appointed Chief Scientific Officer and VP of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
(CIHR), effective July 4, replacing Dr. Pierre Chartrand, who is retiring.
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