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Commercializing Canadian research and moving it to the marketplace
by Natalie Quinlan.
From clean technologies to quantum computing, laboratories to industry, startup ideas to global relevance, what does the future hold for Canadian invention?
That question was tabled during a panel discussion hosted in partnership with progressive think-tank Canada 2020.
More than 200 Waterloo alumni and students attended the Ottawa event to discuss Canada's relevance in the global market, identifying culture, risk-taking and funding as key factors.
"Canada, as an advanced economy no longer relies on making things cheaper, we rely on making things smarter," said Mihaela Luminita Vlasea, associate research director, additive manufacturing and assistant professor for the Faculty of Engineering. "Either designs or products or manufacturing processes, that's where we have a competitive advantage."
Hosted at Canada's Science and Technology Museum, audiences discussed the country's growing economy, while panelists offered proactive solutions for marketplace growth.
"There are three [solutions]: the first is money—our companies need to be able to access capital," said Mike Moffatt, director of policy and innovation for Canada 2020. "The second is talent—companies need to be able to hire the people they need to grow. And I think the third is ambition—we really need to think large and realize that we can compete with anyone in the world."
The evening served as a collaborative outlet, engaging an audience of alumni and community members on the highs and hurdles of remaining globally relevant.
"I think a topic like this has so many moving parts, there's no one person that has the answer, there's no one silver bullet," said Jay Shah, director of Velocity. "You all bring something different to the conversation and the amalgamation of that in some way is going to be what causes the ecosystem to succeed, so we need everybody's opinion to come up with the right solution."
Following the panel, guests explored the museum's quantum exhibition, a first-of-its-kind showcase examining how a merge of quantum mechanics and information technology will revolutionize the twenty-first century. This was part of an alumni event series called Beer + Quantum, which was hosted across the country as the exhibit travelled from museum to museum over the last year. With more than 8,300 alumni in Ottawa, the event sold out quickly. Honourable guests such as MP for Waterloo Bardish Chagger and MP for Kitchener Centre Raj Saini were also in attendance.
"The knowledge and innovation coming out of the University of Waterloo is second to none," said Chagger. "When the University of Waterloo is here, present in the nation's capital, the whole country benefits from everything we have to offer, so it's important that we continue to offer events like this."
"Waterloo Region is very special," added Saini. "We have all kind of sectors that exist there but one of the most important sectors that we have is the high-tech sector, and quantum computing is very important not only for Waterloo region, but going forward, it's important for the world."
Check out the video highlights:
President attends summit, delivers address in Dubai
On Monday, February 12 and Tuesday, February 13 President Feridun Hamdullahpur and Associate Vice-President, International Ian Rowlands were in Dubai to represent Waterloo on the international stage. The two University leaders had meetings with representatives from local institutions and universities, attended the World Government Summit and networked with colleagues from the region and around the world.
The centerpiece of the trip was engagement with The Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education. On Monday, the Foundation’s CEO, Maysa Jalbout, hosted a lunch for President Hamdullahpur, inviting many of the Foundation’s regional partners to share experiences on international education.
The following day, the Foundation hosted a workshop on co-op and work-integrated learning, opened by His Excellency Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair (the Foundation’s Chair). President Hamdullahpur provided the keynote address on the University of Waterloo’s experiences in experiential education and work-integrated learning. Additional panel discussions on startups and co-operative education followed.
President Hamdullahpur also had the opportunity to attend parts of the World Government Summit taking place in Dubai at the same time. He had a productive exchange of ideas and international insights with the Consul General for Canada in Dubai, Emmanuel Kamarianakis, as well as other delegates and officials who were attending the Summit.
A team of six graduate students from Waterloo's Faculty of Environment were also invited to be part of the Global Universities Challenge at the World Government Summit. The graduate students met with world leaders and pitched ideas to shape the future of government. The students pitched an app that gives people practical, real-time information during extreme weather events. The app integrates data from emergency services and support in any community where an extreme weather event is causing disruption. They will be competing against some of the highest profile institutions in the world.
Thank you to our graduate students Paddy Enright, William Moniz, Fabiola Alvarado Revilla, Joanne Marie Fitzgibbons, Stephanie Sokolowski and Zarin Tasnim Khan for all your hard work and representing the University on the world stage with your creativity and innovative spirit.
Quest downtime begins tomorrow and other notes
The Quest system will be unavailable to clients starting beginning tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. until Thursday, February 22 at 8:00 a.m. Following this work, Quest will be upgraded to the most recent, supported release and clients will notice a new service login page. Additional details are available on the IST website.
While we're on the subject of reminders, the Faculty of Mathematics is sponsoring a brainstorming session to populate displays that showcase the history of computing today at 2:00 p.m. in MC 5501. Faculty, staff, retirees from across campus are invited to attend. Refreshments will be provided.
The session organizers are looking to collect stories, anecdotes and notes to develop three displays including:
- Slide rules and analog equipment;
- Teaching and computing; and
- Computer research and spin-offs.
Contact event organizers Debbie Brown (dabrown@uwaterloo.ca), Scott Campbell (scott.campbell@uwaterloo.ca), Lawrence Folland (lfolland@uwaterloo.ca), and Robyn Landers (rblanders@uwaterloo.ca) for more information.