Caplan - Canada at the Summit - (Page 20)

new KNOWLEDGE for a new economy CANADA AT THE SUM MIT CAMBRIAN COLLEGE the launch of the new College and Community Innovation Program (CCIP) by the federal Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). A 2007 a models and testing.” NSERC report stated, “It is expected that The process for transferring the the College and Community Innovation relevant technology depends on the Program will, in the project. “The college’s long term, increase the objective is not to own CONII’s goal is to economic development the ‘widget’ or IP,” develop projects with of the community and says McCall. “But to small and medium-sized create new quality jobs ensure that our industry business that support based on know how and partners get the best their applied R&D technological innovation. use out of it. needs, make effective “This is to be achieved “Our key concern use of college faculty by increasing the is the participation of expertise and resources capacity of the colleges students and faculty while providing students to transform the results in these projects with real-world learning of R&D into economic that will increase opportunities that activities more easily and their skills base and enhance their skills and more quickly.” entrepreneurship marketability. “This type of through problem recognition and financial solving.” support acknowledges the valuable A further boost to strengthening the position that colleges now occupy on role of community colleges in applied the research continuum,” says McCall. research right across the country is Innovation Real-world When asked about the emergence of applied research among Ontario’s community colleges, Sherrill McCall, director, Planning & Research, Cambrian College in Sudbury points to the launch of CONII (Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation). Initially it involved 10 colleges and came with a three-year, $3.5 million grant from the Ontario Research & Commercialization Program of the Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI). Recently, there has been an announcement to expand to 20 colleges. It is expected that eventually, all Ontario’s 24 colleges will be involved. “Cambrian College has been doing such projects informally for many years,” says McCall. “For example, we conduct contract research to help local companies with prototype testing providing them with lab space, building SHERIDAN COLLEGE Midwife for “In the past, when we carried out applied research projects, about 90 per cent of the ideas came from external sources and 10 per cent from our own people,” says Herb Sinnock Oakville-based project manager, energy, School of Applied Computing & Engineering Science, Sheridan College. “We are now trying to turn those numbers around.” Since community colleges enjoy closer relationships with business, especially small- and medium-sized ones in their communities, Sheridan College being in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) enjoys a greater variety of contacts than its counterparts in smaller centres. To make the most of those opportunities, it has four centres of excellence to develop applied research and apply those solutions to meet the needs of firms in the community and elsewhere. These include the Sheridan Elder Research Centres (SERC). It is dedicated to developing, testing and implementing innovative solutions to improve the lives of older adults and their families. The Sheridan Visualization Design Institute focuses on interactive digital media, especially the development of visualization technologies for education, training, and entertainment. The eight-million dollar Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Design Technologies (CAMDT). The Bramptonbased facility can help firms simulate realworld problems that will enable them to develop viable solutions. As well, the Centre for Realtime Production to can help firms meet the CHANGE business challenges of a complex digital world. The college is also actively working with other institutions and organizations in the region as well as those overseas. For example, it has also recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES) in Dehradun India. “Our role is to be the midwife to the process that helps develop new technology for companies that come to us with problems they cannot solve on their own,” says Sinnock. “We are here to help them with their applied research needs so they can serve their customers better.” www.newknowledge.ca http://www.newknowledge.ca

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Caplan - Canada at the Summit