1. Commercialization through collaboration

    March 5, 2009 by AURP Canada

    It’s fitting the view from Glen Schuler’s office on the fifth floor of 121 Research Drive includes Innovation Place buildings in the foreground and both the University of Saskatchewan and the downtown skyline in the background.  Schuler is the new managing director of the university’s Industry Liason Office (ILO).  He says the view reflects his own mission to see the university, government and business community working together to create the best possible environment for start-up companies and transferring technology to existing local companies. “A lot of times tech transfer offices are just there to protect intellectual property, but I think our real goal is to commercialize it to the benefit of the inventor, the University and also the local economy.”

    ILO has been a research park client for about six months.  Schuler himself has only been with the ILO just over two months, arriving from the University of Tennessee where he was Director of the MBA Program.  Schuler says on his first visit to Saskatoon he was impressed to see such a successful research park right next door to the University.  He says it’s a great foundation for success but he wants to see the business community play a bigger role in getting research results off the lab bench and into the marketplace caster and more efficiently.

    “We would like to get people from the business community to help us review the ideas for commercialization early on to provide feedback even before there’s a formal business review.  Once companies are into the start-up phase, we’d like to look to the local business community for mentors, sources of financing both as angel investors or venture capitalists, and as future customers.”

    Schuler also has plans to tap into the skills of MBA students at Edwards School of Business. “My perspective of this commercialization process is that it is very collaborative.  We’re here to accelerate commercialization but we can’t do it on our own.”

    For more information about the University of Saskatchewan’s Industry Liason Office, plase go to www.usask.ca/research/ilo.

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  2. A cluster of infrastructure research

    by AURP Canada

    Putting sensors into buried water mains to monitor their condition sounds pretty straightforward until you get into the details, like how to power those sensors.  Riad Al Wardany with the National Research Council Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure Research in Regina (NCR-CSIR) and Ali Tazari, a student with the University of Regina, are working to develop a different kind of power supply system for in-pipe wireless underwater sensors.  Instead of using electrical wires or regularly changing batteries, the system takes advantage of water flow to turn a small generator which creates power to feed the monitoring sensors.  Better monitoring of water mains means a more reliable water supply system for communities.

    This is just one of the innovative projects building Saskatchewan’s reputation as a hotbed of sustainable infrastructure research.  Innovation Place is home to several key players in this cluster of expertise, including the NRC-CSIR that recent received $4 million in renewed federal funding.  The investment in the “sustainable infrastructure technology cluster” is designed to encourage further collaboration and partnerships across all levels of government, universities and private industry.

    That collaboration is facilitated, in part, by having several key players in close proximity to each other at Innovation Place.  NRC is neighbour to the University of Regina’s Centre for Sustainable Communities and Centre for Studies in Energy and Environment on the third floor of the PTRC building.  Just next door in the Terrace is the NRC Industrial Research assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) and Communities of Tomorrow, a non-profit enterprise which brings together private sector companies, researchers and municipalities to develop new municipal infrastructure solutions in Saskatchewan.

    John Lee, the president of Communities of Tommorrow, says it’s important for researchers to be able to move quickly in developing innovative solutions to real world challenges.  “Too often a good idea can sit on a lab bench for lack of funding or support to move forward. A municipality may be facing an infrastructure challenge and need a solution.  Industry may have an innovative product or process but lack the means or knowledge to move it to commercialization or simply to solve a costly problem.  Our role is to capture those opportunities before they are lost by providing early stage research and development funding, market research and commercialization expertise as well as access to a municipal living lab like the City of Regina.”

    From water main monitoring to transit vehicle tracking, from infrastructure asset management system support to traffic roadway development, the wide variety of research being carried out in Regina around sustainable infrastructure share a common objective: to improve public safety and health while reducing long-term infrastructure maintenance costs.

    For more information about the clients at Innovation Place, please go to our website at www.innovationplace.com/regina.

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  3. RESCAN: Creating opportunity

    March 4, 2009 by AURP Canada

    Leonard Sinclair is looking for experienced environmental scientists and engineers to join his team.  Sinclair is the manager for the newly opened Saskatchewan office of Rescan Environmental Services Ltd., and international environmental consulting firm headquartered in Vancouver with several offices in British Columbia and Washington State and satellite offices in Peru and Chile.  Rescan has over 30 years of environmental experience with major resource developments for industry, institutions, and governments around the world.  Rescan was drawn here initially by BHP Billiton’s potash project and then ongoing development of the province’s natural resources.

    “Even though there is a downturn in the world economy, Saskatchewan’s resource sector has so many opportunities that are still going to be developed,” says Sinclair. “The companies we consult for have a long-term view of resource development projects and Rescan is well qualified and experience with environmental and community impact assessment of those projects.”

    The first big project is the impact assessment of BHP Billiton’s proposed potash mine near Jansen, about 140 km southeast of Saskatoon.  Rescan developed and produced the Jansen Potash Project Proposal which BHP Billiton submitted to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment to initiate the environmental review process.  Now, Rescan is developing a fully functioning office in Saskatchewan to continue with the more detailed assessment.

    “You have to cover the full scope of the project and look at potential impacts a mine development would have on everything from the soil and water to wildlife, fisheries and air quality and then you have to identify all the potential issues,” says Sinclair. “We also provide strategies for future mitigation, monitoring and management for potential effects.”

    Sinclair is quick to point out that the impact assessment looks at factors well beyond the immediate natural environment.  The social and economic impact for nearby communities is also considered.

    “Good communication with the local communities and First Nations communities is key to this type of project,” says Sinclair. “For example, we need to consider what effect a large number of workers would have on nearby communities, on traffic patterns and housing opportunities.” Public consultations are held as part of the development of the impact assessment.  The public gets to participate and review the assessments and predictions and provide comments before a final decision to approve the development is made by the government.

    Construction of the Jansen Potash Project could start as early as 2011.

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