WATERLOO, Ont. (Monday, October 28, 2013) – The professor behind the world’s largest simulation of a functioning brain joins a public discussion next week to ask if it is possible to build intelligent machines.

Professor Chris Eliasmith, creator of Spaun, joins researchers from four other universities at Research Matters, a panel discussion moderated by journalist and broadcaster Piya Chattopadhyay, on November 4, at McMaster Innovation Park in Hamilton. The free event is open to the public and the first of five in the Research Matters speaker series that takes place across Ontario during the next six months.

“I’m very excited about sharing my lab's work as part of Research Matters. One way to understand how people think, complete tasks, and why they behave in various ways, is by building machines that mimic those abilities. In doing so, I hope we’ll be able to better understand and treat disorders of the brain as well as design more useful and intelligent devices,” said Professor Eliasmith, Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Neuroscience, and professor in Waterloo's Department of Philosophy and Department of Systems Design Engineering.

Other research topics for the panel include:

  • How communities can be a force for social innovation (Gayle Broad, Algoma University);
  • Preventing illness and saving lives through water safety (John Brennan, McMaster University);
  • The miracles of nano-magnets (Muralee Murugesu, University of Ottawa); and,
  • Planet hunting (Ray Jayawardhana, University of Toronto).

Researchers will present their topics and then ask the audience members present and online to decide What Matters Now? The series is a collaborative effort of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) and the events allow the public to discuss the future with the university researchers who are creating it.

 “Research Matters is a snapshot of the life changing research going on at Ontario universities,” said Bonnie M. Patterson, president and CEO of COU. “Without research, we would not be able to combat disease, solve serious social problems, create more effective public policy and discover things we’ve never even thought of.”

University researchers are improving the health, happiness and richness of life for people around the world. Their work crosses all disciplines and is essential to helping government, businesses and communities make informed decisions.

Research Matters Hamilton takes place at McMaster Innovation Park, 175 Longwood Rd. S., 6:30 to 9 p.m. Register to attend or watch the live webcast online.

Research Matters travels to London on November 26, Thunder Bay on March 4, 2014, Toronto on April 9, and wraps up in Kingston on April 23.

For more details on Research Matters please visit yourontarioresearch.ca and @OntarioResearch on Twitter.

About the University of Waterloo

In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's technology hub, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit www.uwaterloo.ca.

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Nick Manning
University of Waterloo
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