Executive Council
August 18, 2010
The following is being distributed at the request
of the Research & Development Corporation:
Research & Development Corporation Invests More Than
$1.8 Million
in Memorial University Research
The Research & Development Corporation (RDC), the provincial Crown
corporation for improving Newfoundland and Labrador's research and
development capacity (R&D), today announced more than $1.8 million in
funding for research projects at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
The investment is being made through the Industrial Research and
Innovation Fund (IRIF) in research areas relevant to Newfoundland and
Labrador, including aquaculture, genetics, healthy aging, energy, earth
sciences, and engineering.
The funding for 14 research and development projects is enabling
researchers to leverage more than $2.3 million from other funding
sources, including the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research, and industry players.
"This investment supports innovative, leading-edge R&D that is
relevant to the province," said Glenn Janes, Chief Executive Officer of
the RDC. "The Industrial Research and Innovation Fund develops, attracts
and retains highly-qualified researchers and also encourages
collaboration between academic researchers and industry."
Dr. Ray Gosine, Memorial's Vice-President (Research) Pro Tempore,
said today's investment is key in allowing researchers from the
Faculties of Arts, Engineering and Applied Science, Medicine, Business
Administration, and Science further explore their research and areas of
study.
"The Industrial Research and Innovation Fund is a significant source
of funding for ongoing research and development at Memorial that aligns
with the mandate of the RDC," said Dr. Gosine. "Today's announcement
will allow our researchers to expand their research programs,
collaborate with other researchers provincially, nationally and
internationally, and to examine significant issues relevant to our
province."
One of the R&D projects being funded is a study examining the
optimization of oil reservoir development. Dr. Ronald Haynes, Associate
Professor from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in the
Faculty of Science at Memorial, is receiving $100,000 from IRIF for the
project.
"The IRIF funding will be instrumental in securing the necessary
computer hardware and expertise to develop mathematical algorithms
capable of solving large scale optimization problems of interest to the
local offshore oil industry," explained Dr. Haynes. "Of particular
interest is the oil well placement problem. Sophisticated computational
techniques will allow virtual, relatively inexpensive, experimentation
with problems like finding the best configuration of oil wells to
maximize yield."
About IRIF
The Industrial Research and Innovation Fund (IRIF) focuses on
building R&D capacity at Newfoundland and Labrador's post-secondary
institutions and other not-for-profit research facilities that support
research and development, innovation and commercialization in areas
relevant to both industry and the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The IRIF has three elements for post-secondary institutions and other
not-for-profit research facilities that support research and
development, innovation and commercialization in Newfoundland and
Labrador:
LeverageR&D
is intended to leverage funding from public
funding agencies (primarily federal). Applications may include
private sources of funding, but the majority of the funding
should be leveraged from public sources.
IgniteR&D
builds capacity among new and/or first-time
academic researchers in Newfoundland and Labrador. It assists
researchers in establishing new R&D capacity in support of
research and development, innovation and commercialization in
areas relevant to industry and the economy of Newfoundland and
Labrador. It provides up to 100 per cent of total eligible costs
of a specific proposal, where leveraged funds are not available
to the researcher.
CollaborativeR&D
builds R&D capacity in priority areas as
well as fosters local, national and international collaborative
R&D among academic researchers and industry.
About the Research & Development Corporation
The Research & Development Corporation is a provincial Crown
corporation responsible for improving Newfoundland and Labrador's R&D
performance. The RDC works with R&D stakeholders including industry,
academia and government agencies and departments. For more information
about the RDC, go to www.researchnl.com.
- 30 -
Media contacts:
BACKGROUNDER
IRIF Research Projects
The following is a list of research projects at Memorial University
of Newfoundland which are receiving funding through the Industrial
Research and Innovation Fund (IRIF). The list includes the specific IRIF
element funding the projects.
LeverageR&D
is intended to leverage funding from public funding
agencies (primarily federal). Applications may include private sources
of funding, but the majority of the funding should be leveraged from
public sources. The following research projects are receiving funding
through LeverageR&D:
Mass Spectrometry System for New Approaches to Rapid Environmental
Monitoring and Greening of Industrial Processes
: Dr. Christina
Bottaro, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Memorial
University
Dr. Bottaro will use the funding to acquire a mass spectrometer, an
instrument which will be used to support numerous researchers and will
be used in the training of many students at Memorial. Dr. Bottaro is
receiving $148,288.51 from IRIF, allowing her to leverage $150,000 from
the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Research
Tools and Instruments Grants Program. Her research will also support
efforts to protect the environment through better monitoring methods,
more environmentally-friendly chemical processes and more productive use
of waste materials like fish waste.
Fast and Economical Material Patterning
: Dr. Kristin Poduska,
Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Faculty of Science,
Memorial University
Patterned magnetic materials have become the optimal choice for the
next generation of data storage in computer hard disks and random access
memory devices. A variety of techniques are being explored within the
industry to optimize their performance and effectiveness. This
opportunity to develop new methods to fabricate these materials has
catalyzed an active and growing collaboration at Memorial. Dr. Poduska
is being awarded $92,138 in funding from IRIF to acquire a vibrating
sample magnetometer. When coupled with micromagnetics simulations, this
tool will enable her to establish and understand important relationships
between her new fabrication technique and magnetic device performance.
The IRIF award leverages $150,000 in funding from the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council of Canada's Research Tools and
Instruments Grants Program.
The Health Impacts of Asbestos
: Dr. Stephen Bornstein, Faculty of
Medicine; Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts; and
SafetyNet Research Centre, Memorial University
The Baie Verte asbestos project involves designing and implementing
an occupational disease registry for the former employees of the Baie
Verte asbestos mine in Newfoundland and Labrador. Researchers will study
the effectiveness of the registry, examine the long-term health impacts
of working with asbestos, and disseminate the results provincially,
nationally and internationally. The RDC is investing $131,000 through
IRIF. The project includes $641,928 in funding from the Workplace
Health, Safety & Compensation Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador,
and $15,000 in funding from the Atlantic Networks for Prevention
Research-Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
emSYSCAN — Embedded Systems Canada
: Dr. Lihong Zhang, Faculty of
Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial University
Dr. Zhang is receiving $276,977 in funding from IRIF for this
national project, which will provide platform-based microsystems design
and prototyping environments to enable, stimulate, and extend nationwide
university research. Memorial will take advantage of the proposed
state-of-the-art infrastructure to conduct research mainly on
microelectronics, embedded systems/software, and novel material and
devices. The IRIF award leverages $276,977 in funding from the Canada
Foundation for Innovation, and $138,488 in funding from industry
including Adaptec, Altera, ANSYS/ROI, ARM, Beecube, Cadence, Coventor,
Design Workshop, IBM, Mathworks, Mentor, SoftMEMS, Synopsys, Tanner and
Xilinx.
The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging: Understanding the
Complexity of Aging Health through Interdisciplinary Research
: Dr.
Gerry Mugford, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University
This study will follow 50,000 Canadians, aged 45-85 years over the
next two decades and is considered one of the most comprehensive studies
on aging ever undertaken. Researchers will collect information on the
changing biological, medical, psychological, social and economic aspects
of the participants' lives. Dr. Mugford is receiving $500,000 from the
RDC which leverages $486,350 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation;
$54,386 from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador; and $175,139
in-kind from commercial vendors.
Animal Memory and Cognition Lab
: Dr. Christina Thorpe, Department
of Psychology, Faculty of Science, Memorial University
The field of behavioural neuroscience often relies on the use of
animal models to study memory. Because animals are unable to directly
communicate memories for particular events, researchers need to find
innovative ways of studying their episodic memory. One possible means of
doing this is to study time-place learning, which examines an animal's
ability to learn how biologically-significant events vary in space and
time. This research will provide the groundwork to better understand how
spatial and temporal information is organized in humans. With $89,205 in
IRIF funding, Dr. Thorpe is leveraging $58,916 from the Canada
Foundation for Innovation — Leaders Opportunity Fund; $17,675 from the
Canada Foundation for Innovation — Infrastructure Operating Fund; and
$11,278 in-kind from vendors.
Viral and Cellular Determinants of Hepatitis C Virus Assembly
:
Dr. Rodney Russell, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University
The overall goal of this research project is to identify therapeutic
targets for the hepatitis C virus which will contribute to the
development of novel antiviral drugs to help fight the disease. With
IRIF funding totaling $100,000, Dr. Russell will purchase high-quality
equipment to carry out research that involves local, national, and
international collaboration with academic and industrial partners. This
funding allows him to leverage $96,154 from the Canada Foundation for
Innovation — Leaders Opportunity Fund; $40,462 from vendor discounts;
$7,825 from Memorial's Faculty of Medicine — Medical Research
Foundation, and $28,846 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation —
Infrastructure Operating Fund.
IgniteR&D
builds capacity among new and/or first-time academic
researchers in Newfoundland and Labrador. It assists researchers in
establishing new R&D capacity in support of research and development,
innovation and commercialization in areas relevant to industry and the
economy of Newfoundland and Labrador. It provides up to 100 per cent of
total eligible costs of a specific proposal, where leveraged funds are
not available to the researcher. The following research projects are
receiving funding through IgniteR&D:
Reconstructing Subsistence, Mobility Patterns and the Environmental
Context of Newfoundland and Labrador's Prehistoric Inhabitance
: Dr.
Vaughan Grimes, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Memorial
University
Dr. Grimes uses the analysis of stable light (carbon, nitrogen and
oxygen) and heavy (strontium) elemental isotopes preserved in biological
tissues such as bone, teeth and hair to address questions related to
climate change and migration in the past. He is receiving $24,813 from
the RDC to further his research.
The Use of Lobsters in Multi-trophic Aquaculture
: Dr. Iain McGaw,
Ocean Sciences Centre, Faculty of Science, Memorial University
This project will be a combined laboratory and field study of
juvenile and adult lobsters, with a goal of gaining a better
understanding of how variations in temperatures, oxygen levels and food
availability affect the distribution of lobsters, the assimilation of
nutrients, and if lobsters are suitable for use in multi-trophic
aquaculture. The longer term goals are to develop a viable, cost
effective renewable resource for the province. Dr. McGaw is awarded
$99,714 from IRIF.
Genetic Prognostic Biomarkers Correlated with Survival in Cancer
Patients from Newfoundland and Labrador
: Dr. Sevtap Savas, Faculty
of Medicine, Memorial University
Dr. Savas and her research team will operate a molecular genetics
laboratory focused on identification of genetic prognostic factors in
cancers affecting the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, starting with
colorectal cancer. The RDC is investing $100,000 in this research. Once
validated, results obtained from this laboratory may be used in
development of prognostic genetic tests that will improve survival in
cancer patients.
Symbiosis in Thyasirid Bivalves and Impacts on Organically Enriched
Marine Sediments
: Dr. Suzanne Dufour, Department of Biology, Faculty
of Science, Memorial University
The expected outcomes of this project include a better understanding
of the intricate functioning of animal-bacterial symbioses, which have
implications in human health, as well as in the marine environment. Dr.
Dufour is receiving $99,815 in IRIF funding. This project has direct
applications to understanding the environmental impacts of the
Newfoundland and Labrador economy (aquaculture, agriculture, forestry,
gas and oil industry) on marine ecosystems, particularly with respect to
how certain species are adapted for dealing with organic loading, and
may contribute to the ecological remediation of disturbed coastal and
offshore environments.
Startup Funds for Altius Industrial Research Chair in the Metallogeny
of Ores in Volcanic and Sedimentary Basins
: Dr. Stephen Piercey,
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Memorial University
The goal of this new chair is to contribute to the discovery of new
mineral resources in both Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada. The
chair will focus on understanding ore deposits associated with ancient
volcanoes and sedimentary environments, particularly resources of
copper, zinc, lead, gold, silver, and uranium. That work will help
create knowledge and research tools that may be transferable to industry
and applied in the search for new resources. The chair will also build
on existing strengths at Memorial and a strong local mining and mineral
exploration community with a history of resource development to create
an eastern Canadian hub for mineral deposits and mineral exploration
research. Dr. Piercey is receiving $100,000 in IRIF funding.
Corporate Responses to Climate Change in the Oil and Gas Industry
:
Dr. Natalie Slawinski, Faculty of Business Administration, Memorial
University
Dr. Slawinski's research examines how oil and gas companies have been
responding to the issue of climate change since the 1990s, when it
started to appear on the corporate agenda. Her research uncovers the
external pressures that influence firms' climate change strategies,
including social movements and government regulations. By exploring
which climate change strategies provide firms with a competitive
advantage and which government regulations are effective without
hindering firms' competitiveness, this research provides recommendations
to help firms mitigate and adapt to a changing climate. The RDC is
investing $27,000 in IRIF funding into her work.
Optimization of Oil Reservoir Development
: Dr. Ronald Haynes,
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Memorial
University
Dr. Haynes is receiving $100,000 in IRIF funding from the RDC for his
research. The economic success of offshore oil production in
Newfoundland and Labrador is sensitive to many operating parameters. It
is typical in the industry to use mathematical models to approximate the
revenue and costs over a time horizon for a specific set of operating
conditions, for example the number and location of a set of oil wells.
The specific goal of this research is to couple these mathematical
models with fast optimization strategies to find the best set of
operating conditions.
2010 08 18 1:00 p.m.