Fourteen faculty members met the May 30 deadline and applied for $38.4 million in Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Innovation Fund funding for major research projects in the sciences, medicine, engineering, mathematics, business and the arts.

The largest funding request from McMaster is for a $6.7-million psychology study on brain and behavioural development (led by Ron Racine). Other researchers hope to lead major research projects in pollution, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, mathematics, micro-manufacturing, text analysis, steel production, radiology, e-commerce, robotics, lead monitoring in children, fisheries archeology and fuel cells.

All the projects fall under McMaster's designated strategic areas, including: molecular biology, information technology, environment and health, and science-based manufacturing and innovation.

Project leaders identified in the submissions are: J. Macri (laboratory medicine), Brian Golding (biology), Matt Valeriote, (mathematics & statistics), Mo Elbestawi (mechanical engineering), Geoffrey Rockwell (School of the Arts), Gord Irons (materials science & engineering), Claude Nahmias (radiology), Norm Archer (business), Daniel Ewing (mechanical engineering), Al Spence (mechanical engineering), David Chettle (medical physics and applied radiology science), Aubrey Cannon (anthropology) and Tony Petric (materials science & engineering).

McMaster professors are also part of other CFI applications led by scientists from Queen's University, University of Western Ontario and University of Ottawa. McMaster project leaders for these submissions are David Wilkinson (materials science & engineering) and Andy Hrymak and Heather Sheardown (both in chemical engineering).

CFI plans to invest up to $350 million in the 2001 competition. It has also set up a new operating fund of $400 million to support CFI-funded projects that receive their funding after July 1. This new fund is to help universities support the operating and maintenance costs associated with their CFI-funded infrastructure projects during their first five years of operation.