[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/OITcheque.jpg” caption=”McMaster researchers and Sheldon Levy(centre)”]McMaster University will receive $12,662,008 in funding from the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT) to support a wide variety of research projects, OIT Board member Sheldon Levy announced yesterday (May 25) in a special ceremony at the University.

“It is a tribute to the innovative spirit of McMaster University and its researchers that such a wide variety of projects have been selected for OIT support,” Levy said.

The 13 projects receiving OIT funding cover many fields ranging from environmental and medical research to metal working and nuclear research. Highlights include:

o Facilities and equipment to support new avenues in rehabilitation medicine, as well as enhancing the quality of commercial products designed to assist the disabled.

o Laboratories and equipment, including new fuel and control systems, to enhance existing and new programs in nuclear research.

o Key pieces of equipment for McMaster's interdisciplinary Materials Research Laboratory for study in areas such as pulp and paper, metals processing and laser technology.

o Sophisticated equipment to support research in metal working with the potential to enhance efficiency in industries such as automobile and aerospace manufacturing.

In each case, the funding will allow researchers to outfit their labs with the best and latest equipment and, as a result, help them recruit and retain top scientists.

“There is no doubt that this University community has the intellectual capacity for innovative research. We are convinced that the investments announced here today will provide the infrastructure essential to help it meet it research goals,” Levy said.

“These kinds of partnershihps among government, industry and academia work to everyone's advantage,” said Peter George, President of McMaster University.”The universities, for their part, benefit by ensuring their programs stay current and relevant and by keeping some of the brightest minds in Ontario. These investments will pay off in terms of significant R&D discoveries, which will ultimately create jobs and wealth in our province and country.”

“This government understands the need for investment in modernizing research infrastructure and state-of-the-art equipment,” said Brad Clark, MPP for Stoney Creek, who was on hand for the announcement. “That is why we created the Ontario Innovation Trust to complement the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and have recently tripled funding to the OIT with an additional endowment of $500 million.”

OIT funding has helped stimulate and support innovation and research to keep Ontario's universities, colleges and hospitals at the leading edge in scientific and health-related fields.

Since the establishment of the Ontario Innovation Trust by the Ontario government in March 1999, OIT has invested more than $160 million in research infrastructure for post-secondary and health institutions across the province.

The projects announced May 25 received initial funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), which announced matching dollars of $12,241,384 for the University last year. The CFI is an independent, not-for-profit organization established by the Government of Canada in 1997 to address an urgent need of Canada's research community: new, state-of-the-art research infrastructure. The CFI has been entrusted with a capital investment budget of $1.9 billion, and its investments are made in partnership with all levels of government, as well as with the private and voluntary sectors. Its work focuses on health, the environment, science, engineering and the social sciences.

“The Canada Foundation for Innovation is pleased to be a major funding partner in these projects at McMaster University, which will contribute to the development of world-class research expertise,” said David Strangway, president and CEO of the CFI.