Organization: Canada Foundation for Innovation

Dr Ingrid J. Pickering

Science minister Kirsty Duncan has announced the appointment of the first woman chair of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), a federal agency funding and supporting advanced research infrastructure. Dr Ingrid J. Pickering will lead the CFI board of directors for a term of three years effective immediately. She replaces Dr Kevin Smith, who served…

Engineering Design: The Neglected Link in the Innovation Chain

A large number of policy statements and reports on innovation have been published by the federal government over the last 20 years. These studies all reached the same conclusion – Canadians are exceptional at generating new ideas but very poor at converting these ideas into economically beneficial activities.

Science minister Duncan meets with CRCC for updates

Science minister Kirsty Duncan met with members of the Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) this June to outline her expectations for the committee created in fall 2017 to harmonize research initiatives among federal granting agencies. Duncan’s office said the meeting was held in Ottawa where she made clear her expectations of the CRCC, how it…

New Canada 150 chairs announced in Ottawa

Ottawa recently announced more appointees to the Canada 150 Research Chairs, a program which attracted some of the top international researchers from all over the world to consider Canada their new home or to consider coming back home. The Canada 150 research chairs competition is funded in Budget 2017 for $117.6 million. The chairs come…

Dr Kevin Smith

Dr Kevin Smith will join the University Health Network (UHN) as president and CEO effective May 22. Known for his contribution to the healthcare systems at the national and provincial level, Smith is currently president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health System in Hamilton and CEO of Niagara Health System. Smith is also serving as chair…

Niagara supercomputer available to all Canadian researchers

Niagara, Canada’s most powerful supercomputer to date, is now available to researchers across the country, thanks to funding from the federal and provincial governments and Univ of Toronto, where the supercomputer is housed. Niagara is being supported by the university’s high performance computing division, SciNet. The supercomputer is part of the national advanced research computing…

CSA’s first 100 days reveal overwhelming appetite from government for science advice

The honeymoon is over and the Chief Science Advisor is getting right down to business. But it was a jam-packed 100 days for Dr Mona Nemer, who was appointed last fall as Canada’s first chief science advisor (CSA) 10 years after the previous Conservative government eliminated the position and dismissed her predecessor, Dr Arthur Carty.