Richmond Hill : In The News

A nationwide poll by Forum Research suggests that residents of Mississauga, Oakville, Markham and Richmond Hill like what they get for their tax dollars.
 
The four GTA municipalities all made the top 10 in a ranking of resident satisfaction with municipal services across Canada. Respondents ranked their satisfaction on everything from fire and garbage services to libraries and public transportation. Although Quebec City came out on top, the GTA managed to dominate the list in other ways.
 
"Council and I are very pleased at seeking this kind of progress on our goal of becoming better every year," Oakville Mayor Rob Burton told InsideHalton.com. Oakville ranked fifth overall. "It's terrific really to have this validation of how hard we have been working on this and that we are actually getting some results."
 
"The town tied for second in the area of police services with 53 per cent of Oakville residents surveyed saying they were very satisfied with their police service," writes InsideHalton.com. "Oakville tied for second again in the area of ambulance and emergency medical services satisfaction with 61 per cent and tied for second place in the area of public health services satisfaction with 37 per cent."
 
"Oakville received the highest satisfaction rating of all cities surveyed for road maintenance and repair with 31 per cent, a score that left Burton particularly satisfied."
 
The top 10 in order are:
Quebec City, Que.
Burnaby, B.C.
Mississauga, Ont.
Sherbrooke, Que.
Oakville, Ont.
Burlington, Ont.
Laval, Que.
Markham, Ont.
Longueuil, Que.
Richmond Hill, Ont.
 
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Original source: InsideHalton.com

A 16-year-old Richmond Hill high school student has made a potentially game-changing discovery in the treatment of debilitating lung disease, cystic fibrosis. Marshall Zhang, an 11th grade student at Bayview Secondary, used the supercomputer system Canadian SCINET to figure out how certain drugs react with proteins associated with cystic fibrosis. As reported by DailyTech.com, Zang's discovery earned him a first place award at the 2011 Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge, a national science fair where students conduct research projects with mentors.

"Zhang grew interested in disease-related research after taking Advanced Placement Biology in the 10th grade. He wanted to work in a laboratory with real scientists, so he started getting in touch with local professors to see if he could participate in their research labs."

"While many biochemistry professors at the University of Toronto rejected Zhang's idea due to his lack of experience, Dr. Christine Bear, a researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children's Research Institute in Toronto, welcomed him to her lab."

"While working at Bear's lab, Zhang utilized the Canadian SCINET supercomputing network to see how new compounds reacted to the proteins associated with cystic fibrosis. Through a series of computer simulations, he found that a combination of different drugs could be used simultaneously without impacting one another to treat cystic fibrosis. In fact, these findings were tested on living cells proved to be effective."

"I have identified certain chemical structures that are key in the corrective effects of these molecules, as well as identified two molecular targets on the protein for future therapeutics," said Zhang."

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original source DailyTech.com

As reported by Exchange Magazine, the Waterloo-based software giant Open Text will hire as many as 400 workers at Ontario locations over next five years.  The new jobs -- to be spread between Waterloo, Richmond Hill and Ottawa -- come as part of the company's $225-million product development plan.

"One of the drivers for this investment is the digital media sector which offers opportunity for growth and innovation," said president and chief executive John Shackleton of Open Text."

"The Ontario government will contribute $33.75 million to the initiative."

"This is a strategic investment that anchors Open Text's operations in the province and furthers Ontario's reputation as a leader in digital media and information and communications technology," said Sandra Pupatello, Ontario's Minister of Economic Development and Trade."

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original source Exchange Magazine