NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
July 21, 2008

DRIVING THE INNOVATION ECONOMY IN KITCHENER-WATERLOO

McGuinty Government Building Ontario’s Innovation-Driven Economy

NEWS

Research aimed at improving Ontario’s air quality by reducing vehicle emissions and searching for ways to help older adults overcome memory loss are two of the 10 projects at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo that will receive $1,400,000 in funding from the province’s Early Researcher Awards program.

Funding leading research is part of Ontario’s plan to build an innovation economy.

The researchers include:

• Dr. Sukhvinder S. Obhi (Wilfred Laurier University), who is working to understand how spatial information is understood in the brain.
• Dr. William Shelbourne Epling (University of Waterloo), who is working to develop advanced components to improve vehicle emissions performance.
• Dr. Myra Annette Fernandes (University of Waterloo), who is looking for ways to reduce and even reverse the normal memory loss adults experience as they age.
• Dr. Joseph Veilleux Emerson (University of Waterloo), who is improving the performance of quantum information processing devices – used to revolutionize the processing speeds in a wide range of electronics.
• Dr. John Chun-Han Lin (University of Waterloo), who is developing advanced models of climate conditions in the North to help improve understanding and management of our rapidly changing environment.

In total, 66 projects across the province worth $9.24 million will receive funding from the Early Researcher Awards program.

The goal of this program is to improve Ontario’s ability to attract and retain the best and brightest research talent from around the world. Today’s investment will ensure that leading Ontario researchers have the resources they need to build their research teams of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research assistants and associates from across Canada and abroad.

QUOTES

"Kitchener-Waterloo is home to many of the world's leading scientific and innovative minds, determined to solve the most pressing challenges of our time – from groundbreaking discoveries in IT, computing, health care and environmental protection. Through human ingenuity we are creating the jobs of the future and keeping our communities at the forefront of Ontario's innovation economy,” said Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Leeanna Pendergast.

“Today’s investment is an important part of Ontario’s plan to build an innovation-driven economy. We are investing in the people who are pioneering the scientific breakthroughs that will improve healthcare, protect the environment, and ignite growth in the industries that will shape Ontario’s future,” said Minister of Research and Innovation, John Wilkinson.

QUICK FACTS

• The Early Researcher Awards program is an important part of Ontario’s Innovation Agenda, a plan to make innovation the driving force of the provincial economy.
• Innovation is part of the McGuinty government’s five-point plan for the economy. The other parts of the plan are:
  • Skills and training
  • Building infrastructure
  • Strategic business tax cuts to create investment
  • Partnerships with business

LEARN MORE

Learn More about the Early Researcher Awards

Learn More about Ontario’s Innovation Agenda

Learn how Ontario’s Budget 2008 is supporting innovation

---

See also:

• Backgrounder: Strengthening Ontario’s Innovation Economy