practical partnerships: connecting industry with research€¦ · dr. alexandra fedorova research...
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NRAS Research Team Program Outcomes(2009-2015)
Practical Partnerships: Connecting Industry with Research
N A T U R A L R E S O U R C E S A N D A P P L I E D S C I E N C E S E N D O W M E N T F U N D
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Table of ContentsProgram Overview .....................................................................4
Executive Summary ..................................................................5
Outcomes ..................................................................................7
Time and Resources ...................................................8
Novel Solutions .........................................................10
Knowledge Transfer ..................................................12
Leveraged Funding ...................................................14
Increased Profile of BC Research ............................16
High-Calibre Personnel ............................................18
Sectors of Research ...............................................................22
Challenges & Opportunities for Improvement .....................24
Appendix: Project Descriptions .............................................26
4 | NRAS 2009-2015
The Natural Resources and Applied Sciences Endowment was established in 2006 with a
$50 million investment by the BC government. The first funding program to emerge from the
endowment was the NRAS Research Team Program, developed collaboratively by BCIC and
BCFRST. The program supports BC’s most accomplished researchers working on projects
that hold potential for significant social, environmental and economic benefit to the province
in both the near term and future. The focus is on innovative BC solutions to problems. In the
2009 competition, 24 projects were chosen to receive a total of $6.9 million in funding, with
each receiving a maximum of $300,000 over 4 years.
The intent of the Natural Resources and Applied Sciences (NRAS) Endowment is to support:
• Human Resource Development
• Technology Transfer and Commercialization
• Regional and Economic Development
• Increased Collaboration (regionally and globally)
The success of the NRAS program was evaluated through reports and interviews. The
following pages summarize the impact the NRAS Research Team Program had in BC.
“NRAS provided a great support for research that is practical and relevant to BC.”Dr. Mohamed Hefeeda, School of Computing Science, SFU
Program Overview
| 5NRAS 2009-2015
Executive Summary
The Natural Resources and Applied Sciences
Endowment was formed in recognition of the pivotal
importance that the natural resources, applied
sciences and engineering fields represent to the
Provincial economy. Established in 2006 by the
Province of British Columbia, it remains the first and
the sole source of provincial funding for these fields.
The frames of reference, in relation to ensuring British
Columbia’s leadership and competitiveness in these
areas, included: a. Human Resource Development,
b. Technology Transfer and Commercialization,
c. Regional, and Economic Development, and d.
Increased Collaboration (regionally and globally).
As the first initiative funded by the endowment, The
NRAS Research Team Program was designed to:
a. encourage collaboration of highly accomplished
academic researchers with complementary
expertise, b. elevate the quality of multi-disciplinary
environments to enhance research and training
outcomes, and c. enhance the ability of British
Columbia researchers to compete at the national and
international level. Over the course of five years, 24
university research teams connected with graduate
students, industry partners and, frequently, other
universities, to work on innovative BC solutions that
held potential for significant social, environmental and
economic benefit to the province in the near term and
in the future.
This report summarizes the impact of the NRAS
Research Team Program in BC, based on program
reports and interviews. It also provides case studies
and testimonials from program participants.
Six primary outcomes have been identified:
1. High-calibre personnel
All 24 projects provided specialized training for
post-secondary students. A number of students
secured jobs in applicable industries or reported
increased job readiness as a result of their
experience in the program.
2. Novel solutions
Research teams successfully validated,
benchmarked, and developed novel solutions for
technology transfer that were cost effective and
practical for industry.
3. Time and resources
The flexible timeline and research expertise
provided by the NRAS funding enabled research
teams to build strong collaborations and
effectively address problems facing industry.
Industry partners were able to tackle pressing
issues for which they lacked internal resources.
4. Knowledge transfer
Collaboration among researchers with
complementary industry expertise resulted
in a high level of knowledge transfer and
better understanding of industry needs. This
collaboration also provided relevant work
experience for students.
6 | NRAS 2009-2015
5. Leveraged funding
As the only provincial funding of its kind in
these fields, NRAS Research Team funding was
highly valued by award recipients. It facilitated
significant leveraged funding from federal
and industry sources, allowing many teams to
continue their research beyond participation in
the NRAS program.
6. Increased profile of BC research
A number of projects developed novel
technologies that are helping to solve industry
problems. This has helped raise the profile of BC
research nationally and internationally.
Challenges and Opportunities for ImprovementFeedback from program participants helped to
identify several opportunities for improvement,
including:
• Minimize disconnection: Increased effort to bridge
industry’s need for practical solutions with academic
need to train students and conduct leading edge
research
• Prioritize market-ready solutions: industry partners
expressed a need for business-minded researchers
and students
• Standardize intellectual property agreements:
industry identified concerns regarding IP negotiations
and intellectual property rights and the differences
between every institution
• Awareness: improved outreach to industry about
NRAS collaboration opportunities may help
researchers attract interested collaborators and
motivated industry partners
• Establish consistent provincial funding: a more
consistent, reliable source of provincial funding for
physical and applied sciences is needed
The NRAS Research Team Program generated
significant outcomes that will continue to provide
social, environmental and economic benefits in both
the near term and the future.
| 7NRAS 2009-2015
Outcomes
8 | NRAS 2009-2015
“What we’ve realised working with these companies is that engineers make the difference for a company. Companies
without engineers aren’t able to identify a problem at a technical level, let alone
find solutions.”
Time and Resources
NRAS funding provided an ample and flexible timeline for research teams to build strong collaborations and address practical problems facing industry. Many industry partners expressed that the research expertise provided through NRAS helped them tackle pressing issues for which they lacked technical resources to address.
Andrew Brownsword, former senior Software Engineer, Electronic Arts; Industry Partner - Dr. Alexandra Fedorova Research Team
“A lot of the time working in the gaming industry can
be very heads down, working as quickly as possible
to get things to market and unfortunately there
isn’t a lot of time to explore alternatives. Having an
external research team proving concepts, really
hugely expands the potential scope for what EA
might actually be able to do in the future. I really
enjoyed this type of collaboration and I see that it
has great value for industry. Active collaborations
and relationships provide so many opportunities for
industry to fund research, hire grad students and
interns, and expand on their relationships with local
universities. A provincial funding program like NRAS
acts as lever to assist with facilitating these types of
valuable partnerships.”
Nicolas Vining, Technical Director and Lead Programmer, Gaslamp Games; Industry Partner – Dr. Alexandra Fedorova Research Team
“I think that our collaboration with Dr. Fedorova’s lab
has increased the overall value of the company. Building
technical knowledge in house is important and having
the ability as a company to publish papers at academic
conferences is very important. This is why Gaslamp
collaborates with several universities in BC. It is less of
a question of global advantage and rather a question of
what the company believes in and what we can do that
is different and distinct. The gaming industry values
novelty first and foremost, and I would definitely say our
work with Dr. Fedorova’s lab has helped propel novelty
and innovation at Gaslamp games.”
Cristophe Mobuchon, Research Assistant – Dr. Poursartip Research Team
| 9NRAS 2009-2015
Dr. Nancy Mahony, Research Biologist, Grassland and Aerial Insectivore Bird Research, Environment Canada; Industry Partner – Dr. Nicholas Coops Research Team
“I think the NRAS program has benefitted
Environment Canada greatly. It allowed us to work
with Dr. Coops and his students to answer some
questions that were very practical to the work that
we do. The biggest impact was that we were able
to build on their expertise to get some questions
answered that we may not have been able to do in
house. I think addressing practical applications was
key because what we were are able to do was to take
a theoretical, academic approach and apply it directly
to the conservation and environmental planning
questions that we were dealing with in the real world.
The NRAS funding was able to build a bridge between
the theoretical approach and our on the ground
questions, providing answers that we wouldn’t have
had otherwise.”
Christophe Mobuchon, PhD, CEO and Co-founder,
Tesseraz Composites; Team Lead at UBC
Characterization, Composites Research Network -
Dr. Anoush Poursartip Research Team
“Before I worked with Dr. Pousartip, I worked for
a collaborative platform called Technocampus
Composites in France and had already gained
experience working with industry and the
aerospace sector. What I found most valuable in
Prof. Poursartip’s project and the CRN was gaining
exposure to a new industry and the opportunity to
work with local SMEs. Typically, SMEs have limited
resources and R&D to be sustainable has to impact
their business model in the short/medium term.
For this project, we mainly worked with three
companies: Campion, FormaShape and Rhinokore
which were facing various manufacturing issues.
What we quickly realized working with them is
that engineers are a strong asset even for SMEs.
Engineers are capable of identifying technical
challenges, applying scientific knowledge and
implementing new solutions. SMEs that do not have
any engineer in their workforce have more difficulties
to point out technical limitations and maintain
competitiveness.”
Sam Gaib, Program Director, Schneider Electric; Industry Partner - Dr. Xiaodai Dong Research Team
“We had really clearly defined R&D needs and Dr.
Dong was able to validate them, assign the students
to participate, and she also came back to us with a
project and benchmarking test plan for us to provide
input on. This really helped us define and narrow in
on the technology we wanted to test. Thanks to the
research and testing that Dr. Dong’s lab did for us,
we were able to confirm and validate that we should
proceed with developing wifi enabled energy meters.
By adding wifi capability to our metering devices,
we are going to be able to make it easier for our
customers to interact with their meters using their
smart phones and tablets. We hope that by offering
this wifi capability, the consumer will pay closer
attention to their energy consumption, manage it
better on a day to day basis, and ultimately leave a
smaller footprint on our world.”
Ultra Wideband Wireless Technology Test Set-Up – Dr. X Dong Research Team
10 | NRAS 2009-2015
Novel Solutions
Research Teams were highly successful in validating, benchmarking, and developing novel solutions for technology transfer in a manner that was cost-effective and practical for industry from a business perspective.
“...we wanted access to more students and we
wanted to give them the opportunity to work on real
business problems.”
Akiko Campbell, Director, Innovation Centre & Security Officer, Pacific Blue Cross; Industry Partner – Dr. Jian Pei Research Team
Dr. Campbell explains that the research that Dr. Pei and
his group have done together has helped their business
problems involving fraud tremendously. “Jian is very
business savvy and he comes up with practical solutions. I
understand that for other organisations and prior to meeting
Jian that it is difficult to find students or professors who
can really appreciate real business problems and develop
something that really helps the business,” says Campbell.
After five years of successful collaboration they have
decided to formalize their collaboration in the form of a
Centre called the Pacific Blue Cross Health Informatics Lab.
“The reason why we wanted to formalise our relationship
with Dr. Pei is because we wanted access to more students
and we wanted to give them the opportunity to work on
real business problems. There are already customers in
public sector organisations, like health authorities, who are
interested in getting involved in this lab as well.”
Akiko Campbell, Industry Partner – Dr. Pei Research Team
| 11NRAS 2009-2015
Steve Binks, Industry Partner – Dr. Poursartip Research Team
Don Tamaki, Manager, Campion Marine, Industry Partner - Dr. Anoush Poursartip Research Team
“We are recreational, fibreglass composite boat
builders. This collaboration has definitely helped
us change our manufacturing process to cut the
cost in building products. As a small company, we
don’t have an engineer on staff and we don’t have
equipment for testing. We have relied on suppliers
and salesman to tell us what we’re supposed to
do when something goes wrong with materials.
Typically when something does go wrong, those
suppliers tend to that say we’ve done something
wrong in the materials process. UBC provided to
us a way of really looking at that process, tested
it on the machines and equipment that they have,
and came back to us with recommendations on
how we should be moving forward.”
Brian Aikens, Chief Technology Officer, Echoflex; Industry Partner - Dr. Xiaodai Dong Research Team
“We engaged Dr. Dong’s lab because they
have extensive background in radio frequency
systems. They had the grad students, equipment
and the expertise to do testing that Echoflex was
just not able to do in house because our R&D team
does not specialize in radiofrequency systems. The
collaboration resulted in a new, successful radio
technology, which it is currently going through
the legal patenting process. We knew we could
create a better technology and we proved that.
Together with Dr. Dong’s lab we developed sensor
technology that is more flexible, cost effective and
more efficient in its usage of power, the result of
which was a much smarter, more energy efficient
line of sensor products.”
Steve Binks, Process Engineer, Formashape; Industry Partner - Dr. Anoush Poursartip Research Team
“Dr. Poursartip’s research team was totally instrumental
in helping us develop a hands on technical method by
which we could de-gas large quantities of resin at one
time. This proved to be extraordinarily effective solution
for the most painful problem for our architectural area.
From a business perspective within the composites
industry, adopting this technique helped us to
significantly reduce costs through the elimination of
scrap and we’ve also raised the bar as far as our own
internal acceptance criteria for product quality because
we now have better control over that one variable. We
definitely benefitted tremendously from this project
and we intend to pursue this relationship through the
Composites Research Network at UBC.”
“The collaboration resulted in a new, successful radio technology, which is currently going through the legal patenting process.”
GroundProbe Monitoring an Open Pit Mine Slope – Dr. Stead Research Team
12 | NRAS 2009-2015
Knowledge Transfer
The collaboration of researchers with complementary industry expertise resulted in a high level of two-way knowledge transfer, better understanding of industry needs and problems, and provided relevant industry work experience for students.
Dr. Doug Stead, Department of Earth Sciences, SFU
“The NRAS initiative provided an excellent
opportunity to build contacts between universities
and the mining industry in BC and internationally.
It provided young engineers and geoscientists with
valuable practical research experience, which led to
them obtaining employment in the BC mining sector.
In parallel, it exposed industry partners to new state-
of-the-art technologies and improved practices. The
long-term benefits to the BC Mining industry include:
• The development and transferral of new technology
to industry;
• Providing the BC mining industry young engineers
trained in state-of-the-art characterisation,
monitoring, analysis and monitoring methods and,
finally;
• Developing a strong and healthy collaborative
research environment between BC universities and
the mining sector which will continue to flourish over
the foreseeable future.”
Dr. Shuo Tang, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UBC
“In this grant I collaborated with a hospital to carry
out research on a biomedical device. The most
valuable part of the collaboration experience was to
work closely with clinicians and to learn what kind
of tools they need in the clinic. Being able to apply
our technology to medical applications has been an
important part of our research.”
| 13NRAS 2009-2015
Dr. Jian Pei, School of Computing Science, SFU
“NRAS Endowment Research Team Program is
outstanding. Starting with industry is difficult
particularly when you don’t have any clear ideas about
what the industry needs and the financial support
really helped us to demonstrate some prototype
systems and give us some time to understand what
the industry need. My project in this program partially
supported one postdoc fellow, nine PhD students, and
twelve MSc students in four years. It also enabled my
group to build concrete collaborative research relation
with five industry partners. I am very grateful to the
program for its strong support to my group, particularly
at the critical point in my career development.
James Pond, CTO, Lumerical; Industry Partner – Dr. Reuven Gordon Research Team
“I think the main impact to industry is the exchange of
ideas and understanding of new research directions
in the academic world. A lot of Lumerical’s customers
are commercial and are very focused on problems
that need to be solved solved immediately; however,
the academic collaborations give us more insight into
the longer-term directions and what’s coming next.”
Dr. Xiaodai Dong, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UVIC
“Interacting with industry has taught me to
understand the industry needs and the way
they work. It has opened up my perspectives on
practical problems in product development and how
research can be better tied with industry needs.
The collaboration experience between PI’s and the
industrial partners was productive, informative,
and rewarding for both sides. NRAS funding was
instrumental in supporting my research project
and graduate students training. We would not have
achieved the research outcome without NRAS
funding. I have used research experience supported
by NRAS to attract industrial partners from Echoflex
Solutions and Schneider Electric to establish projects
through NSERC Engage Grant.”
Dr. Mark Johnson, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, UBC
“ The NRAS funding was fundamental for enabling a
line of research that could improve the sustainability
of forest management practices in BC. Through the
NRAS project, we established relationships with
industry in BC that we have been able to maintain and
build upon in follow-up research projects.”
Dr. Nicholas Coops, Department of Forest Resources Management, UBC
“Our project was focused on building a more
comprehensive understanding of biodiversity and
climate change across BC. Through BCIC funding
we were able to model current avian biodiversity,
and the likely implications under climate change.
We also better understand how the productivity and
seasonality of BC ecosystems are likely to change
under a changing climate.”
Dr. Alexandra Fedorova, School of Computing Science, SFU
“Our collaborations with industry were particularly
effective in this project, because we were able to
freely discuss ideas, not burdened by the need to set
up complicated intellectual property agreements.
Software companies typically benefit more from early
access to ideas and from understanding how the idea
fits into their product as opposed to from having an
exclusive ownership of the idea or obtaining software
code from researchers. Companies that realize
this are in a much better position to benefit from
academic collaborations.”
“...there is very little provincial funding available for research and so
NRAS funding really filled that gap for us, at least for three years…”
14 | NRAS 2009-2015
Leveraged Funding
Award recipients regarded the NRAS Research Team funding as highly valuable, advantageous, and critical as it is the only provincial funding available of its kind in these fields. It facilitated significant amounts of leveraged funding from both federal and industry sources, and allowed many teams to continue their research collaborations beyond NRAS.
Dr. Reuven Gordon, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UVIC
“The NRAS project allowed us to collaborate closely
with Vancouver-based Lumerical and produce
high-quality research. One of the main outcomes
of NRAS funding is that because we had good
initial data, we were able to secure more strategic
project grants, including two federally funded
projects with support from Lumerical. One of the
other benefits was that it attracted high quality
students to the project. Ishida Mukherjee finished
her masters and published two significant papers
during the term of the project, which resulted in her
gaining employment with Schneider Electric post-
graduation.”
Stephen Phillips, Graduate Student – Dr. Costa Research Team
Dr. Reuven Gordon, UVIC
| 15NRAS 2009-2015
Dr. Kevin Smith, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, UBC
“I think NRAS was a very successful program that
helped us leverage funding from both NSERC and
our industrial partner Westport Innovations, and
build a team with the critical mass that it needed to
have an impact in this area. A consequence of the
project is that several highly qualified personnel have
been trained in this area of science and technology,
new novel catalysts have been formulated, and
the development work is now entering a new
stage to scale-up the technology that is solving
technical problems for Westport. It’s important
that researchers have industrial partners because
it gives you better perspective on your research to
understand the needs of industry and meeting those
needs is really critical.
I think the other key piece from our point of view is
that if you compare our funding situation in BC to
other provinces there is very little provincial funding
available for research and so NRAS funding really
filled that gap for us, at least for three years. So in
my mind, if that were to continue it would be very,
very helpful. Without it, BC researchers are at a
disadvantage compared to other groups who are
competing for federal funds across Canada.”
Dr. Xiaotao Bi, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, UBC
“For BC, the funding is very important because it
provided support from the provincial government
to do fundamental research and to work closely
with BC industry. Especially since the work
we have done really relates to the wood pellet
industry which is a major bio-energy industry now
in Canada, BC makes up 80-85% of this sector.
So the provincial funding that supports the high
priority industrial sector in BC is very important,
as you cannot rely on the federal government
to support this provincially important industrial
sector. This kind of funding will be critical to allow
the provincial bio-energy industry to grow rapidly.”
Dr. Boris Stoeber, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC
“The NRAS program has provided essential funding
to researchers at BC’s universities. In BC we are in
general at a disadvantage compared to colleagues
in other provinces with substantial provincial
funding programs. This makes it hard for us to
build large research groups and to attract a large
number of top students resulting in disadvantages
for BC’s high-tech sector. Technology from my lab
has found its way into four BC-based companies
over the past two years alone. Research funding
through programs such as NRAS can have a strong
positive impact on BC’s economy.”
Dr. Boris Stoeber Research Team, UBC
Dr. Tim Salcudean, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UBC
“The NRAS program used international peer
review and a simple application. It showed
flexibility in extending funding to the great
benefit of our supported students. It leveraged
funding from CFI, CIHR and NSERC, and helped
engage and create companies. The research
results, technology developed, and trained
personnel that NRAS enabled are continuing
contributions through new partnerships and
new leveraged federal research dollars into the
province.”
“...we have now developed an international reputation in the field
and attracted collaborators from multiple leading institutions in the
world.”
16 | NRAS 2009-2015
Increased Profile of BC Research
A notable number of projects developed novel technologies that are helping to solve defined industry problems, the result of which has raised the profile of BC research at both a national and international level.
Dr. Bozena Kaminska, School of Engineering, SFU
“My collaboration with BC Hydro was highly
valuable. It is a long-term collaboration and we
are working on a follow-up of this relationship
by developing a very important proof of cost
prototype for their applications based on our
energy system, which we developed during this
grant. The second important activity was working
on the energy system as it was proposed in this
grant. I developed some Nano technology, which
then resulted in new patent applications, and
some industrial collaboration with companies in
Canada and the US too. I was able to form a new
company out of this too which is called Nanomedia
Solutions. There were definitely many positive
outcomes from this program.”
Dr. Mohamed Hefeeda, School of Computing Science, SFU
“NRAS provided a great support for research that
is practical and relevant to BC. I highly recommend
continuing and expanding this program.”
Dr. Farid Golnaraghi Research Team, UBC
| 17NRAS 2009-2015
Dr. Maycira Costa, Department of Geography, UVIC
“My research program and partnership
with industry, government, and non-profit
organizations was significantly enhanced as a
result of the project funded by BCFRST under
the NRAS initiative. The most valuable part of
the collaboration experience was the exchange
of knowledge in the different fields of expertise
of the collaborators and the ability to enhance
and develop new partnerships including the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Pacific
Biological Station and Institute of Ocean Sciences,
Pacific Salmon Foundation and ASL Remote
Sensing. Also, as an outcome of this project,
our research is now recognized in Canada and
internationally.”
Dr. Alireza Nojeh, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UBC
“The NRAS funding came at a crucial time in my
career, and played a major role in enabling me
to establish my research program as a starting
researcher. Perhaps the most important aspect
of this program was the vision behind it and the
flexibility that it gave researchers: the recognition
that the outcomes of research, by their very
nature, are unpredictable, and it is important to
allow researchers the freedom and flexibility to
pursue promising directions for the long term,
even if those involve deviations from the original
plan, rather than force a pre-determined path. It
was this flexibility that allowed my research group
to capitalize on our discovery of the Heat Trap
effect and continue this promising path, to the
point that we have now developed an international
reputation in the field and attracted collaborators
from multiple leading institutions in the world.
Interestingly, in addition to this type of long-term
benefit, the rewards of which will continue to
accrue, we have already also received short-term
economic benefit in the form of foreign, private-
sector research funding coming to the province,
already at levels comparable to the NRAS funding
itself. This was a truly excellent research funding
program, and the province certainly needs more
such programs. Thank you!”
Dr. Alireza Nojeh, UBC
Dr. William Davidson, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, SFU
“This program really cemented a working relationship
between SFU and UVIC. And allowed us to participate
in a large international project dealing with sex-
determination in Atlantic Salmon.”
“as an outcome of this project, our research is now recognized in Canada and internationally.”
Dr. Maycira Costa, UVIC
18 | NRAS 2009-2015
High-Calibre Personnel
100% of projects funded by the NRAS Research Team Program resulted in high-calibre, specialized training and supervision for graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral students; a considerable number of students secured jobs in applicable industries or reported increased job readiness as a direct result of their experience with an NRAS Research Team.
Al Chance, Principal Mining Geotechnical Engineer at Golder Associates Ltd.; Industry Partner - Dr. Doug Stead Research Team
Golder Associates is a consulting engineering firm
with approximately 8,500 employees worldwide and
approximately 120 offices. Given that approximately
30% of their revenue comes from the mining industry,
Dr. Stead’s project is of great interest to the company.
Al Chance, Golder’s Principle Mining Geotechnical
Engineer, talks about the importance of Dr. Stead’s
work within the BC Mining Industry.
“BC has a strong mining industry and a strong history
of mining in the province. Consequently there is a
large demand for well-trained and well-experienced
mine geotechnical engineers. One of the things that
Doug (Dr. Stead) has been able to do is train a lot
of good quality students, students that we hire. In
the type of work that we do, having a good quality
engineering program at a post graduate level is
something that we require to be able to continue
to have well-trained and well-educated staff. The
second aspect to our continued collaboration is our
shared commitment to helping advance science in
certain aspects where there hasn’t been enough
research done.
Golder does not have an in-house R&D department but
what we do have is ongoing R&D and Innovation in all
aspects of the work that we do. For example, a number
of our employees were sent to do their Masters Degrees
and PhD’s with Doug’s program. We had specific areas
that we were interested in researching, so we provided a
certain amount of funds for the students in the form of
loans or gifts to have them further their education.
Additionally, in the past few years we have hired at least
1 to 2 individuals each year out of his program, and we
are just one of many mine consulting engineering firms
in BC that are hiring out of that institute. Doug attracts
graduate students from all over the country and all
over the world. In my estimation, he is running one of
the leading cutting edge research institutes in mine
geotechnical engineering in the world.
Having a strong talent pool and strong educational
institutions both at a technical college like BCIT and
higher levels like SFU and UBC is very important to
maintain the industry and the tax dollars that the
province benefits from in having an industry like that.
I think that the continued sponsoring by both Federal
and Provincial governments to be able to maintain
the educational programs that we have currently is
extremely important.”
| 19NRAS 2009-2015
Xiaoning Xu, Software Engineer at Fortinet;
Graduate Student – Dr. Jian Pei Research Team
“I worked as a masters student with Dr. Pei and
participated in the project by working directly
with industry partner, Fortinet, doing network
log analysis. Working on this project was a great
benefit to me because I was offered a job by the
company after the conclusion of the project. I
am now working on data mining in the form of
an evolving graph for Fortinet. When I started I
thought that I would simply follow some steps
to find out what research was like and get some
engineering experience. But I was able to get a
lot more out of it. This was the first job that I have
secured in my career. I wanted to stay in Vancouver
so I was happy to say yes to this company. Thank
you for a great experience.”
Reza Zahiri-Azar, Director of Engineering, Ultrasonix; Industry Partner - Dr. Tim Salcudean Research Team
“From our perspective as an industrial partner,
the whole experience of being exposed to
leading edge research was very positive. For
graduate students, getting to understand the
business and seeing the industrial applications
of their research is a very valuable experience
for them. It was very easy for Ultrasonix to
look to Dr. Salcudean’s lab for potential job
candidates and also for the students to join the
industry immediately after graduation. It made
for a very easy transition for both sides. To date,
we’ve hired three scientists from the UBC lab,
including myself who was hired directly after
I finished my graduate work, which ultimately
has been really great for my career.”
“…I was able to complete my master’s degree and most importantly got a great job at BGC Engineering.”
Graham Dick, Graduate Student - Dr. Stead Research Team
Graham Dick, Geotechnical Engineer at BGC
Engineering; Graduate Student –Dr. Doug Stead
Research Team
“Where do I start… It was basically one of the best
decisions I’ve made. I learned tons about mining in
general, about the monitoring side of things, safety and
how everything is done. It was definitely a new challenge
for me coming from a civil engineering background but
I was able to complete my master’s degree and most
importantly got a great job at BGC Engineering. If I didn’t
do the project, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the job.
The bulk of my role here at BGC has to do with monitoring
pit mines so my experience with Dr. Stead was the best
asset I could offer BGC at that time. I’ve also been able
to continue with some of the research and development
here at BGC just using the expertise that I gained. The
real world is everything I hoped for. I would like to say that
working with Doug and Erik was excellent. Their support
was excellent, they gave me everything I needed.”
20 | NRAS 2009-2015
Rob Busch, Instrumentation Engineer at Pentair;
Graduate Student – Dr. Boris Stoeber Research Team
“My work with Dr. Stoeber led me directly to a job in
the industry. I am currently working at Pentair. Our
division makes equipment for fish farming. I started
working on a dissolved oxygen sensor development,
which was directly related to the sensor development
experience I gained doing my masters as a part of the
NRAS funded project. I stayed on with the company
after that project and began doing more software
and hardware development as a result of my work
experience in this area with Dr. Stoeber.”
Shane Mobuchon, Computer Systems Analyst at
Wisdom Systems, LLC; Graduate Student -
Dr. Alexandra Fedorova Research Team
“Working on Dr. Fedorova’s project is directly
related to where I am now. Right out of university
I got a job with a company that was creating
a product in the same field as Dr. Fedorova’s
project. Our project worked on multi-core
architecture and parallelization, so the skills that I
developed while working on the project was a very
specific and unique skill set specific and unique
skill set that launched me in my career.
I would also like to say thank you to the BC
Innovation Council. I kick-started my academic
career, paid for some of my schooling and got to
where I am now with your help. I received an IBM
BC Innovation Council scholarship from you to go
to university about 8 years ago, right out of high
school. And through the NRAS program I was able
to be trained and find work in the industry that I
was interested in. Thank you BCIC!”
Rob Busch, Graduate Student – Dr. Stoeber Research Team
Participating Industry Partners
$6,255,101in leveraged funds
$48,748,300in complemented funds
The NRAS Research Team Program Outcomes
(2009-2015)
Key Funding Sources:
$6,255,101in leveraged funds
$48,748,300in complemented funds
MILLION 6.9FUNDING
$300k
$55,003,401
301
270
168 $795
24
67PER TEAM
RESEARCHTEAMS
HIGHLY QUALIFIED
PERSONNELTRAINED
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
PUBLICATIONSSUBMITTED
ADDITIONAL FUNDS ATTRACTED
OF BC’S STRONGEST AND MOST ACCOMPLISHED
ATTRACTED FOR EVERY
NRAS $
Auto 21BC HydroBCKDFCFICIHRCity of Prince GeorgeCMC MicrosystemsCSACSACSIROFuture VehiclesEcoCAR 2TechnologyGeoideGRANDGroundProbeIARPA AladdiniDMe
ItascaMitacsMoovee Innovations Inc.NSERCPacific Salmon FoundationPICSPrivate DonorsQatar National Research FundRockfield Software UKSFUSouth China UniversityTeckTransport CanadaUBCWD
22 | NRAS 2009-2015
BC MiningBC Metro Vancouver
Wastewater Treatment Plants
BC Software Development Companies
BC Pulp & Paper Industry BC Transportation BC Pellet Plants
BC Ministries Of Environment & Land
Management
BC Resource Industry Surveillance
BC Stocking Program & Sports Fisheries VGH & BC Cancer Agency
BC Medical Imaging BC Air Quality Monitoring Stations
BC Electric Car Manufacturers BC Wild Fishing Industry
BC Advanced Optical-Device Software
Companies
Sectors of Research
22/24 Research Projects Have
Industrial Applications In BC
| 23NRAS 2009-2015
BC MiningBC Metro Vancouver
Wastewater Treatment Plants
BC Software Development Companies
BC Pulp & Paper Industry BC Transportation BC Pellet Plants
BC Ministries Of Environment & Land
Management
BC Resource Industry Surveillance
BC Stocking Program & Sports Fisheries VGH & BC Cancer Agency
BC Medical Imaging BC Air Quality Monitoring Stations
BC Electric Car Manufacturers BC Wild Fishing Industry
BC Advanced Optical-Device Software
Companies
Sectors of Research
New Drugs Based On More Efficient Drug Development
Breakthroughs In Natural Sciences/Health-Care Green Energy
New Level Of Security, Heath Related Sensors,
Cost-Effective Manufacturing Processes
Reduction In Medical Care Cost, Prediction
Techniques To Help Government React To
Events
Exposure Of BC Mining To International Mining
Increase In Farm Incomes & Job Creation In Rural
AreasBiochar Field Day
Advanced Video Surveillance Systems,
Affordable And Consume Little Energy, Enhancing The
Security Of BC Residents And Property
Reduction In Greenhouse Gas & Ammonia
Emissions
More Benign Manufacturing & Lighter Structures
That Require Less Fuel Consumption
Accurate & Inexpensive Prostate Cancer Imaging
Technology
Reduction In Environmental Impact Of Fossil Fuel
Combustion By Automobiles
Tools For Measuring Indoor/Outdoor Air Quality, Positive
Impacts In BC Health
More Reliable Wireless Mesh Network Benefits
For Video Streaming, Peer-To-Peer File Sharing
& Internet Gaming
Forestry/Ecology 9%
Aqua4c/Fisheries 8%
Bio/Chemical/Environmental Engineering
13%
Biomedical Engineering 8%
Materials Sciences 4%
Mining and Mechanical Engineering
4% Energy Technology
8%
Electrical and Computer Engineering
29%
Informa4on Technology 17%
Sectors of Research
21/24 Research Projects Have Social Benefits
24 | NRAS 2009-2015
Critical Feedback from Program Participants
Challenges & Opportunities for Improvement:
Minimize DisconnectionReflecting on the main challenges of working together,
researchers and industry partners alike pointed to
a gap between the academic need for rigour and
industry’s need for practical solutions. The private
sector cited academia’s minimal experience with the
business world as a common barrier. The feedback
emphasizes the importance of establishing common
research objectives and shared goals from the start in
order to be successful and leverage complementary
skills.
Prioritize Market-Ready SolutionsIndustry partners articulated their need for business-
minded researchers and students as it relates to
developing cost-effective solutions. In particular,
many private sector partners observed that solutions
produced from the project collaboration were not
ready for the marketplace. Additionally, private sector
partners expressed a need for faster turnaround
on results from collaborations in order to remain
competitive in the market place with new technology
developments.
| 25NRAS 2009-2015
When researchers have business needs front of
mind, the benefits are lasting, as evidenced by the
formalized collaboration between industry partner
Pacific Blue Cross and researcher Dr. Jian Pei, called
the The Pacific Blue Cross Health Informatics Lab.
“The main reasons behind formalizing our relationship
were to have access to Dr. Pei’s solutions and to most
importantly give students the opportunity to work on
real business problems. It is hard to find students or
professors who can really appreciate real business
problems and develop something that really helps
the business. I lucked out, as Jian is was able to come
up with practical solutions - but I know that this
experience is not very common.” Akiko Campbell -
Director, Innovation Centre & Security Officer, Pacific
Blue Cross
Standardize Intellectual Property AgreementsOf the 24 projects funded by the NRAS Research
Team Program, there were some commercialization
outcomes; however, some obstacles emerged. Of all
the projects, two companies formed as a result, two
projects reported successful patent applications, and
seven projects had pending patent applications. Of
these, concerns regarding the length and difficulty of
IP negotiations and intellectual property rights were
brought forward by industry. Standardization of the
contract negotiation process was suggested as a way
to improve collaborations.
AwarenessIn light of the impact of recent NRAS partnerships,
both industry partners and researchers suggested
that outreach to industry about NRAS collaboration
opportunities may have benefits. Feedback from
the research side indicated that some had difficulty
sourcing industry contacts. It was suggested
that raising awareness of the NRAS collaboration
opportunities among the private sector would help
researchers attract interested collaborators. The
greater the inventory of motivated industry partners
through awareness, the greater the likelihood of
successful NRAS collaboration matches in the future.
Establish Consistent Provincial FundingPrincipal Researchers believe that a more consistent,
reliable source of provincial funding for the physical
and applied sciences is needed for BC’s university
system. BC researchers were felt to be at a
disadvantage to other provinces when competing
nationally to leverage federal funds because more
provincial funds exist in other provinces as compared
to BC. Research teams expressed difficulty in finding
other sources of flexible funding to support focused,
high-quality work with moderate-sized teams in
the applied sciences. There is a strong desire for a
consistent funding opportunity that is sustainable
and will produce both effective, high-quality research
and meet the needs of industry by producing
outcomes with obvious commercial interest.
26 | NRAS 2009-2015
Appendix: Project Descriptions
Simon Fraser University1. PI: Dr. Davidson, Department of Molecular Biology
and Biochemistry
Project Description: Determine the molecular basis for
sex-determination in Atlantic salmon by identifying the genes
involved in the sex-determining pathway.
2. PI: Dr. Fedorova, School of Computing Science
Project Description: Video games are a performance-hungry
domain. This project will develop tools and techniques for
parallelizing video games, to make them better, faster, more
interactive and realistic.
3. PI: Dr. Golnaraghim School of Engineering Science
Project Description: Develop highly advanced self-energized
“smart” sensors for vehicle tires, including wireless
transmission modules and micro-sensors, for measuring
road forces, tire pressure, temperature, etc.
4. PI: Dr. Hefeeda, School of Computing Science
Project Description: To present novel algorithms and
systems to minimize the energy consumption of mobile
devices, improve user-perceived quality and maximize the
use of the wireless spectrum.
5. PI: Dr. Kaminska, School of Engineering
Project Description: A new generation of energy storage
devices based on soft film polymer material will enable low-
cost, environmentally friendly powering of electronic devices.
6. PI: Dr. Mori, School of Computing Science
Project Description: Novel computer vision algorithms
will enable automatic tracking of road users, and improved
analytical tools/measures, for assessing road safety and
developing transportation infrastructure.
7. PI: Dr. Pei, School of Computing Science
Project Description: Tackle storing large and evolving
graphs/data. For example, building search engines for social
networks, transforming Facebook and LinkedIn into business
opportunities.
8. PI: Dr. Stead, Department of Earth Sciences
Project Description: Improve mine safety, economics and
sustainability through implementation of geotechnical
innovation in British Columbia surface mines.
University of Victoria9. PI: Dr. Costa, Department of Gepgraphy
Project Description: Develop an operational method for
using satellite imagery to derive a spatial temporal time
series of phytoplankton blooms and associate it with fish
stock data.
10. PI: Dr. Dong, X, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Description: Wireless sensor network based on
ultra-wideband technology will be used for various purposes
including: environment monitoring/control, asset tagging/
management, fleet management, search and rescue, etc.
11. PI: Dr. Dong, Z., Department of Mechanical Engineering
Project Description: Develop new design tools, key
technology and control methods for commercial hybrid
vehicle power-trains, to address the challenges of widely
varying loads and drive cycles.
12. PI: Dr. Gordon, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Description: Integrate two nanotechnologies
to establish a novel platform for quantum information
processing, offering quick solutions for computer problems.
The University of British Columbia13. PI: Dr. Bi, Department of Chemical and Biological
Engineering
Project Description: Develop a new generation of wood
pellets from sawmills waste, by steam explosion pre-
treatment to make pellets more durable and suitable for
hydrolysis and conversion to ethanol.
| 27NRAS 2009-2015
14. PI: Dr. Coops, Department of Forest Resources Management
Project Description: Develop a framework for monitoring
biodiversity change by identifying regions of unique
biodiversity and ensuring these areas are well represented in
the current network of parks and protected areas. Notable:
PI reports significant new collaborations / links with non-
government organizations and researchers across Canada,
plus more success in bids for national funding.
15. PI: Dr. Johnson, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences
Project Description: Determine the potential for biochar to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching, which
are important considerations for improving the sustainability
of forestry operations.
16. PI: Dr. Leung, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Description: Address the design issues of battery-
operated wireless video surveillance systems, taking into
account the generation, transmissions, storage, retrieval and
consumption of video information.
17. PI: Dr. Mavinic, Department of Civil Engineering
Project Description: Propose a cost-effective, sustainable
and more ecologically friendly technology for the removal of
nitrogen in BC wastewater treatment plants, to potentially
reduce capital and operating costs, and emissions.
18. PI: Dr. Nojeh, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Description: Electron sources are critical
components in a wide variety of industrial and scientific
equipment. The electron sources to be developed will
increase equipment productivity and longevity, reducing
operating costs.
19. PI: Dr. Poursartip, Department of Materials Engineering
Project Description: Science-based manufacturing
design tools are being optimized for usage in the industrial
fiberglass and composites sectors, helping them to compete
globally.
20. PI: Dr. Salcudean, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Description: Improve ultrasound and magnetic
resonance imaging techniques to improve prostate cancer
diagnosis, treatment and disease monitoring, reducing
patient suffering and expenditures.
21. PI: Dr. Smith, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Project Description: Synthesize three new classes of nano-
materials to control emissions from the exhausts of hybrid
diesel/natural gas/hydrogen engines being developed by
Westport Innovations in Vancouver.
22. PI: Dr. Stoeber, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Project Description: Develop high-performance chemical
sensing technology, to detect very small amounts of
chemicals in the air and changes in their concentration, to
benefit surveillance of industrial processes.
23. PI: Dr. Tang, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Description: An optical biopsy device to enable non-
invasive, sub-surface imaging and biochemical composition
identification, providing potential early cancer detection.
24. PI: Dr. Wong, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Description: The throughput and reliability of
wireless mesh networks can be improved by developing novel
co-operative relaying, orthogonal frequency division multiple
access and network coding schemes.
*PI = Principal Investigator
BC Innovation Council
900 – 1188 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC V4E 4A2
Telephone: 604.683.2724
Fax: 604.683.6567
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.bcic.ca