Western promotes research at Discovery conference

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By Heather Travis
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Key research areas at The University of Western Ontario were put on display at Discovery 09, the annual conference of Ontario Centres of Excellence helping to forge partnerships with Ontario business and research communities.
 
The conference, held in Toronto May 11-12, included guest speakers, workshops, seminars and awards. The more than 2,200 delegates included industry, government, other academic research institutions, and students.
 
It also serves as a showcase for research excellence and a networking event.
 
Members of Research Development & Services, including Dan Sinai, Director of Research Development & Services at Western, attended the event along with WORLDiscoveries.
 
At the conference, two projects with Western affiliations were named as finalists for the Ontario Centres of Excellence 2009 Mind to Market Award – StormFisher Biogas and Transform Automotive.  
 
StormFisher Biogas is a renewable energy company that builds, owns and operates biogas plants across North America and is led by Richard Ivey School of Business graduates. The company works with food processing and agricultural industries to process organic by-products and turn them into natural gas and electricity.  
 
Transform Automotive is an auto parts manufacturing company in Ontario, supplying transmission splined clutch housings for automatic transmissions in more than 1.8 million cars and trucks annually. Two Western Engineering students who helped with research also shared the award.
 
As well, three strategic research areas at Western were featured at the conference.  
 
Medical imaging at Western was presented by Aaron Fenster, scientist and director of the Imaging Research Group at  Robarts Research Institute, along with professor Blaine Chronik, Canadian Research Chair in Medical Biophysics, and CSTAR.  
 
Representatives from the Biotron and the Green Energy (Solar and Wind Power) project led by Engineering professor Rajiv Varma discussed energy and the environment, and Surface Sciences Western and the Western Nano-fabrication Facility presented materials and biomaterials.  
 
“Western was well represented by a number of key researchers and research facilities,” says Sinai. “The conference was an excellent opportunity for our researchers and staff to network with other researchers in Ontario and more importantly with industry.”
 
Other Western exhibitors included: Large-Scale Photovoltaic Solar Power Integration in Transmission and Distribution Networks; Surface Science Western; SHARCNET (Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network); and Waste Water Treatment using LSCFB--Particle Technology Research Centre.
 
The conference provides an opportunity for Western to develop relationships for future collaborative research projects. Many of the university’s current research partnerships were established at previous conferences, adds Sinai.
 
"Establishing partnerships today with other institutions builds a strong foundation for our research programs tomorrow," he says.  
 

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