These are tough times for small and medium-sized businesses in B.C. and across the country. But if you’re an SME with an idea that could contribute to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, a new program can help you spring into action.  Mitacs, a government-funded national nonprofit that aims to foster growth and innovation in […]

Benoit Pelletier, Co-founder and Head of ENCQOR 5G at Ciena and Director of Business Development, and Eric Bosco, Chief Business Development of Mitacs, write about the positive effect of a global recruitment strategy for Canada’s most promising companies and their workforce.  “Having a partner to help bridge the gap and find that talent certainly helps, […]

Alejandro Adem, president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and former CEO and scientific director at Mitacs, writes about his concern with the growing trend for questionable online sources to inform public opinion that in turn may affect important policy decisions. He highlights the positive impact of the Mitacs Canadian Science Policy Fellowship program, which […]

As the Canadian economy prepares for the effects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, Toronto-based market data company Hockeystick has released a new list of the active equity funders, lenders, and government funders in Canada. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a significant impact on the Canadian economy and tech startups are not excluded. Speaking with Raymond Luk, the founder and […]

A new surgical mask designed by an Edmonton researcher could help stem the ongoing coronavirus outbreak as the public continues to stockpile supplies. The mask created by Hyo-Jick Choi, a biomedical engineer at the University of Alberta, will kill viruses on contact. Surgical masks are among the items people are stockpiling, leading to stores running […]

WINDSOR, Ont. — The Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC), a researcher and developer of mobility and transportation technology, announced over $1.1 million in funding from its partners and the federal government to establish the National Academic Cluster for Smart Vehicles (NAC-SV). CUTRIC and its members are contributing $797,900 in funding, with an […]

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just wrapped up his visit to Ethiopia, but we need to go back – and soon. We have a pressing need to ramp up our engagement with Ethiopia, and it has nothing to do with the success of the Prime Minister’s trip or the reason for it – garnering votes for […]

ENCQOR 5G is a partnership with a focus on driving innovation in the 5G space between Ontario, Quebec, and Canada and five industry leaders: Ericsson, Ciena, Thales, IBM Canada and CGI. Benoit Pelletier, the head of ENCQOR 5G, spoke in a press release about the need for talent in the space. “In the extremely competitive […]

Their new technique could make face masks more than just a shield against potentially life-threatening illnesses. Dr. Hyo-Jick Choi, a biomedical engineer and professor, has been investigating how salt crystals can essentially cut through and destroy airborne viruses, like a sharp, briny needle piercing a balloon. But he is quick to warn that his research […]

Canadian researchers are putting the finishing touches on a face mask that will destroy, not spread, at least three different flu viruses.  The new and improved surgical masks, and first of their kind in the world, will very likely work on the coronavirus, said biomedical engineer Prof. Hyo-Jick Choi at the University of Alberta.  The […]

Even though face masks are selling out everywhere, an Albertan scientist and his team aren’t convinced that masks help. They may even be doing more harm than good. Assistant Professor Hyo-Jick Choi and his team at the University of Alberta are working on face masks that kill coronavirus instead of spreading it. The team believes […]

The sodium chloride coating applied to the surface of the surgical mask is designed to kill any virus particles which can otherwise survive for up to a week — a risk researchers say the average person isn’t aware of. “Viruses can survive on the surface [of a mask] for a few hours, to a week […]