MP celebrates work of 22 Leaders Opportunity Fund recipients

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BY Danelle D'Alvise, Research Communications

January 29, 2008

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/szt.jpg” caption=”John Thomson, manager of the Steel Research Centre, professor Hatem Zurob of Materials Science and Engineering, and David Sweet, MP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale. Photo by Martin Wiessenz.”]When researchers compile a wish list for new equipment for their labs, it would seem at first glance that items like computer screens, cameras, aquariums or materials to create a soundproof chamber are the kind of gear that could be purchased from the local Best Buy, Wal-Mart or Home Depot.

The specialized lab equipment our researchers need isn't usually an “off the shelf” item and often comes with a significant price tag, a cost that the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) recognizes as an essential investment for our knowledge-intensive economy.

Over the last two years, the CFI has awarded McMaster almost $3 million for 18 projects involving 22 of our researchers from the Faculties of Engineering, Science and Health Sciences. These researchers were congratulated by David Sweet, Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, who was on campus Jan. 21 to present certificates on behalf of the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry.

Engineering professors Qiyin Fang, William Farmer, Steve Hranilovic, Kim Jones, Mehran Kasra, Thomas Maibaum, David Novog, Alexandru Patriciu, Michael Tait, Alan Wassyng, and Hatem Zurob; faculty of science professors Sigal Balshine, Bruce Gaulin, Deda Gillespie, John Greedan, Graeme Luke, Gianni Parise, and Joanne Wilson; and health scientists Elena Verdu, Kathy McCoy and Joan Krepinsky have all attracted funding from the Leaders Opportunity Fund, an ongoing program that chooses researchers who are “recognized leaders in their field…or show promise of becoming research leaders…engaged in, or embarking on, an innovative research program for which the infrastructure is essential and which will provide an enriched research training environment.”

Their projects run the gamut from fish to defibrillators, free-space optical communications to chronic kidney disease and reflect McMaster's collaborative and interdisciplinary strengths.

These researchers are either setting up new labs or building upon their existing suite of instruments, machinery and dedicated apparatus. All are creating leading-edge facilities to advance their research, attract students to their team, and ultimately, make new discoveries, implement new methods, find solutions and cures, and develop products to benefit the public good.

Mo Elbestawi, vice-president, research & international affairs, welcomed David Sweet to campus.

“Your government's investment in our scientists further enhances our University's vibrant research environment,” said Elbestawi. “Whether it's enriching the undergraduate or graduate experience by ensuring hands-on experience with the latest equipment and techniques, or improving the researcher's ability to attract the best candidates to their research teams, or catalyzing research enterprise — these awards advance our research excellence.”

To date, the CFI has invested $96,711,468 in 197 projects at McMaster University. The Leaders Opportunity Fund — which has categories that include funding for research infrastructure, research support, Canada Research Chairs, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) — represents a total of $18,516,223 in funding for 120 projects.

“The Government of Canada believes that it is important to make these types of strategic investments in Canadian universities such as McMaster University,” said MP David Sweet. “The projects we are celebrating today are examples of our government's commitment to research and development, and to those researchers who turn ideas and innovations into practical and commercial applications for the benefit of the people of Hamilton and all Canadians.”

The following is a list of McMaster's Leaders Opportunity Fund recipients from March 2006 to November 2007:

  • Sigal Balshine , Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour,
    Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Behavioural Ecology,
    A New Cold Water Aquatic Facility to Study the Impacts of Invasive Species on Great Lakes Ecosystem Health, $62,000
  • Qiyin Fang, assistant professor, Engineering Physics,
    Canada Research Chair in Biophotonics, Time-Domain Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging for Biomedical Applications, $120,000
  • Bruce Gaulin, Graeme Luke professors, Physics & Astronomy, John Greedan, professor, Chemistry, Laboratory for the Structure of New Materials, $363,038
  • Deda Gillespie, Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, Building the Auditory Brain $80,000
  • Steve Hranilovic, assistant professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Free-Space Optical Communication Algorithms Laboratory (FOCAL),$100,000
  • Kim Jones, assistant professor, Chemical Engineering, Equipment for measuring biological responses to biomaterials , $99,331

  • Mehran Kasra, associate professor, Mechanical Engineering, Biomechanics of Musculoskeletal System at Tissue and Cellular Levels,$98,372
  • Joan Krepinsky, assistant professor, Medicine, Molecular Basis for the Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease, $133,203
  • Thomas Maibaum, Computer and Software Engineering, Canada Research Chair in the Foundations of Software Engineering, William Farmer, Alan Wassyng, professors, Computer and Software Engineering, Visual Design and Analysis Laboratory (VIDALAB), $100,000
  • Kathy McCoy, assistant professor, Medicine, Infrastructure to Assess the Impact of Environmental Microbiota on Development of the Immune System in Health and Disease, $276,466
  • David Novog , associate professor, Engineering Physics, Multi-phase flow diagnostic equipment for flow measurement of critical flows in fossil and Nuclear Power Plants — Phase Doppler Anemometer, $106,313
  • Gianni Parise, associate professor, Kinesiology, The function and regulation of myogenic progenitors during again and exercise, $119,475
  • Alexandru Patriciu, assistant professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Robotic test bed for soft tissue image guided medical interventions research, $69,317
  • Ponnambalam (Ravi) Selvaganapathy, assistant professor, Mechanical Engineering, Microfabrication and microfluidic testing facility for plastic/polymer based biomedical devices, $98,418
  • Michael Tait, assistant professor, Civil Engineering, Advanced structural control testing equipment and full-scale monitoring system, $106,334
  • Elena Verdu , assistant professor, Medicine, Mechanisms underlying food intolerance in functional gut disorders, $134,461
  • Joanna Wilson, assistant professor, Biology, A New Environmental Toxicology Laboratory and Zebrafish Facility to Study the Impacts of Contaminants on Vertebrate Aquatic Species, $100,000
  • Hatem Zurob, assistant professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Infrastructure for the Development and Characterization of Advanced Functionally Graded Materials, $71,929

    • “We can say with conviction that Canada has become a place where world-class researchers want to be,” said Dr. Eliot Phillipson, president and CEO of the CFI. “CFI investments at McMaster University are helping to further develop Canada's global reputation as a place where outstanding research and training is being conducted.”