Research and Innovation : In The News

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

The Grid reports on Toronto's annual ToJam competition, a contest that has participants design videogames from scratch in only one weekend. The game-design marathon, now in its sixth year, attracts over 200 participants and brings together the best of Toronto's burgeoning software design scene.

"The premise of TOJam is that a bunch of people�over 200 this time, but fewer in previous iterations�bring their computers to a George Brown College building near King and Sherbourne on a Friday. The goal, by Sunday night, is for everyone to have created a complete video game from scratch�and that means art, music, code, and all."

"Anyone who's ever taken a course in computer science knows that a single weekend isn't enough time to make something as complex as a game. Even attempting to adhere to that sort of timetable would be a little insane. And yet, TOJam attendees keep finding ways; this was the annual event's sixth year."

"People continue to come out partly because the pressure-cooker environment sometimes yields brilliance, and also because of the networking opportunities. This year's guest list included a Superbrother; other local gaming luminaries have been known to participate.
Keeping things simple makes achieving that ridiculous deadline easier. But Bethke and his five teammates (his Golden Gear Games business partner Andrew Traviss, plus four graphic artists) weren't even doing that. Their game was going to be a feature-rich platformer with an elaborate back-story."

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original source The Grid

Toronto is the world's second most impressive city according to new survey by international consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The report, which graded 26 global financial centres, ranked cities based on business opportunities, culture, livability, and innovation. As reported by the Atlantic, Toronto's high ranking (second only to New York), is result of its ability to retain and attract talent, its business trip index, and its entrepreneurial environment.

 "New York City, Toronto and San Francisco were named the world's most impressive metros in a new survey of the global capitals of finance, innovation and tourism. The report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the Partnership for New York City graded 26 metro powerhouses from Stockholm to Santiago on business opportunities, culture, livability, and innovation."

 "Toronto is a "beta" city, the authors say, because it's not considered a part of the conversation with London, Paris, and New York for greatest city in the world. But it has all the building blocks of a superlative international city, beginning with smart ideas about sustainability and innovation."
   
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original source the Atlantic

Toronto software company Freshbooks (featured in Yonge Street back in January 2010) goes to great lengths to attract and retain the best talent. As reported by the National Post, Freshbooks provides a flexible and familial office environment that keeps its 60+ employees happy and working hard.

"Small business owners, particularly those who require employees to have a specialized skill, can often find it difficult to compete with large companies when seeking to expand staff.That is because large companies can offer rewarding salaries, benefits and perks, while comparatively smaller companies need to be creative to ensure they can retain existing staff and recruit talent as its client base increases."

"One small company that has leveraged its creativity to retain and recruit talent is FreshBooks, an online invoicing and bookkeeping service for small businesses and independent professionals."

"Because employees at FreshBooks' downtown Toronto office are young, the company has made a conscious effort to provide a workplace environment that provides flexibility and few office rules, says Mike McDerment, chief executive and co-founder of FreshBooks."

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original source National Post

The Nashville Business Journal writes on what its city can learn from Toronto innovation expert, Ilse Treurnicht. Treurnicht, CEO of Toronto's MaRS Discovery District, recently spoke to a delegation of Nashvillians on strategies for attracting the right kind of people, investments, and small businesses to foster an innovative urban economy.

"The product on one hand doesn't match the demand on the other side," Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of Toronto's MaRS Discovery District, told a crowd of dozens of Nashvillians Thursday."

"Her organization exists to address that problem. It's no small effort � the massive complex is a key part of the city that encourages academic research, prepares ideas for commercialization and connects investors with products."

"The group that heard Treurnicht talk is traveling around Toronto to learn about a range of economic, political and social issues, as part of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce's Music City Leadership Study Mission."

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original source Nashville Business Journal

CNN features Nav Canada, the Pearson Airport-based air traffic control provider. Nav Canada is known internationally for its commitment to safety and professionalism and was awarded last year's IATA Eagle Award for being the world's best Air Navigation Service Provider.

"Nav Canada controllers are meticulously trained, they never work alone, they work no more than about 17 days in every 28 and they must have at least 10 hours off between shifts."

"For more than a decade Nav Canada has researched and implemented strategies to mitigate the effects of fatigue and that includes sanctioning a nap if needed."

"We actually have a lounge where Nav Canada provides us with reclining chairs so we'll use them for naps and if you go over there in the morning you'll often see a controller who's had a long commute and they'll slide away on their breaks and take a 10 or 15 minute nap to re-energize," explains Arnold."

"But napping is not the only thing that sets Nav Canada apart."

"Canadian controllers are trained and managed by one of the most successful and safe air traffic control systems in the world. Last year they won the IATA Eagle Award winner means they were judged the world's best Air Navigation Service Provider."

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original source CNN

In a breakthrough for healthcare innovation in Canada, Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has signed a lucrative licensing deal with global pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis. As reported by the Globe and Mail, the deal resulted from Sunnybrook's groundbreaking research into the wound-healing molecule vasculotide, which Sanofi-Aventis hopes to eventually bring to market.

"It's a great example of what we've been missing here in this country and this city," says Mark Lievonen, president of Sanofi Pasteur Ltd., the Toronto-based vaccines division of the Sanofi-Aventis Group. The deal will see the drug company develop and commercialize Sunnybrook's research."

"We have great academic research and lots of work being done, but we have very difficult challenges in actually bringing deals to market," Mr. Lievonen said. "It's important to recognize and celebrate the success it really is."

"Historically, Canadian hospitals and other groups have shied away from commercialization, Mr. Lievonen explains. But people are growing excited about innovation and the positive effect it could have on the economy. "Hospitals and universities see the need to do it and more and more people are jumping on this bandwagon of innovation and looking for ways to achieve this kind of success," he says."

"The compound, called vasculotide, is used to treat chronic wounds. It is provided intravenously, and in animal studies it helped accelerate wound healing, in addition to creating better, deeper healing. Diabetic wounds tend to reopen."

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original source Globe & Mail

In a testament to Toronto's burgeoning software startup sector, Google Inc. has completed its third purchase of a Toronto-based tech company. The Internet search engine's newest acquisition is PushLife Inc. Founded in  2008, PushLife creates software that allows users to organize, share, and purchase digital content across different mobile platforms.

"PushLife developed software similar to Apple iTunes that allowed users to seamlessly purchase online content (like ringtones, music, video, other media) that could be synced across different mobile platforms, including Apple iOS, Google Android, and BlackBerry devices."

"PushLife said key employees at the company would continue to work as part of Google's broader engineering team at Google's Canadian headquarters located near Dundas Square in downtown Toronto."

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original source Business 2.0

A recent City of Toronto report entitled "Canada's High-Tech Hub: Toronto" looks at the city's growing and internationally recognized high-tech sector. The MaRS blog highlights three areas in particular where Toronto seems deemed to continue to excel - mobile apps, digital media, and social networking.

""Digital media is well positioned for healthy growth in Canada: 42% of Canadians share pictures online, 41% play games, 36% download music and movies and 35% access online newspapers. Businesses are going digital too�think paperless education, reviewing presentations on the fly and sales presentations with clients onsite."

"Social networking is playing an increasingly important role in the ways people connect, from our personal lives to our interactions with organizations. According to a 2009 consumer survey, 74% of respondents participated in or posted to social networking or community sites. 50% of Canadian organizations use social networking for recruiting and 40% use it as an information source when making ICT purchase decisions."

"Toronto is home to Facebook's Canadian office and will soon be home to a LinkedIn outpost. With two of the biggest social networking sites setting up their Canadian offices in Toronto, opportunities for thought leadership, knowledge sharing and partnerships will undoubtedly arise."

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original source MaRS Blog

Time Magazine writes on a potentially ground-breaking discovery from a group of University of Toronto scientists. At the annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology, UofTs Dr. Kieran Murphy announced that cocktail of antioxidants developed at the university, could cut the damage to DNA by radiation from CT scans by as much as 50%, if taken before the scan.

"Murphy's concoction works by blocking the effect of free radicals, or unstable compounds made when radioactive waves collide with water, generated by radiation. Free radicals can damage DNA and are responsible for the premature aging and death of cells. Murphy's idea was to flood the body with antioxidants that neutralize free radicals prior to medical procedures such as CT scans, which use X-rays to image the body; the antioxidants would counter the damage from radiation."

"He stresses that while any CT scan causes some damage to DNA, for the most part the body's own repair mechanisms are able to overcome such low-level changes. "We have to balance the risks with the benefits," he says. "By far the majority of the time, the risk is far, far worth the benefit. We're just trying to say that if we can reduce that risk a little more, it's a good thing. Then we might be able to allow more screening. If we can increase the number of women who feel safe having a mammogram or the number of people who feel comfortable having a colorectal CT to detect colon cancer, or the number of people who get a coronary calcium screen to pick up signs of future heart trouble, then that would be a good thing."

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original source Time Magazine

Finalists have been announced for the 2011 Green Toronto Awards. The awards, presented by The City of Toronto and Green Living Enterprises, honour Torontonions contributing to a cleaner and more sustainable city. InsideToronto.com has published the list of all 30 finalists, a mix of individuals, businesses and organizations. Winners will be announced at the seventh annual Green Toronto Awards ceremony on Friday, April 15th and will receive an award and $5,000.

see list of finalists here
original source InsideToronto

York University's 3D Film Innovation Consortium, the 1.4 million initiative that brings together researchers, film makers and vision scientists to improve on 3D filmmaking techniques, has announced the release of its first film. The movie--the product of a collaboration between York and Toronto-based Starz Animation--uses newly developed technology to reduce nausea, eye strain and headaches for the viewer. The movie, titled Lovebirds, will  premiere at the Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference from June 11-14 at Toronto's TIFF Bell Lightbox.

"Lovebirds, a mix of animation and live action by Toronto company Starz Animation, is the showcase production of the Toronto-based 3D Film Innovation Consortium, a York University initiative that has brought academic researchers and filmmakers together to explore the burgeoning world of 3D filmmaking to achieve better results."

"The computer-generated animation portions were created by Starz (which did the 3D animation for the recent Disney feature Gnomeo and Juliet). The live action set was shot by York University professor Ali Kazimi using a LiDAR device (light detection and ranging, or laser radar) to create a 3D map of the set. The information was integrated into the software with the animated images to ensure accurate placement of the birds against the backdrop and to study depth perception."

"Though the current Hollywood wave of 3D production is a few years old, it was really in 2009, with the success of such films as Coraline, Up and especially Avatar, that it truly took off. Rob Burton, Starz's vice-president of technology, decided to jump in."

"The technology of simulating depth perception through two proximate overlapping images (which is how humans see) is simple enough, but creating a realistic sense of visual movement is much harder. Our eyes don't zoom in and out like a camera, and the distance between the cameras (known as interaxial or interoccular distance) has to be constantly adjusted. The movies are typically shot with cumbersome rigs, in which two cameras are placed perpendicular to each other, one shooting straight ahead and the other capturing the image from a mirror, with each camera capable of being tilted to create converging sight lines."

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original source Globe & Mail

Wired UK writes on "Sword & Sworcery", a Toronto-developed iPad game that has received international praise since its launch last week. Designed through a collaboration between Toronto game company Capy, local artist Superbrothers and singer-songwriter Jim Guthrie, Sworcery is described as "far closer to an experimental, interactive art piece than a traditional game".

"To say anything, of any real substance, about Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, would be wrong. So much of this game -- an evocative, Zen-like fantasy romp for iPad -- is about the sheer thrill of curiosity, exploration and discovery."

"It figures, considering the endless back catalogue of adventure cult classics and minimalistic masterpieces that no doubt inspired the game. There are hints of The Legend of Zelda -- but more bushwhacking through an uncharted Hyrule than epic world-saving heroics -- and PlayStation 2 marvel Shadow of the Colossus. It reminds me of Ico, Prince of Persia and Another World."

"All games that were not afraid to sit back, drop you in a completely foreign space and let you explore with as little handholding as possible. They were games that harnessed the childlike joy of discovery and relished in the unexpected, with few tutorials and no shepherding arrows to push you in the right direction. This game definitely belongs in that exclusive club."

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original source Wired UK

In anticipation of the launch of LG Fashion Week on March 28, the Toronto Star looks at the the state of the city's fashion industry. While  manufacturing jobs are on the decline, the article reports, the professional side of the industry is healthy and growing.

"Toronto is a growing market connected to consumers around the world, says Ben Barry, business director for VAWK -- the brand developed by Project Runway Canada winner Sunny Fong."

"You can easily be based here, but build a global brand," thanks to social media, says Barry. VAWK, which currently sells out of The Room at The Bay, will be at LG Fashion Week for the first time."

"Barry says Canada is an emerging market for luxury fashion. Toronto is home to good fashion schools and the Toronto Fashion Incubator, an agency Barry calls "amazing."

"The city is currently home to the third-largest design workforce in North America and the city has a long history of apparel manufacturing. But that sector began to dry up in the early '80s, explains labour expert Alex Dagg."

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original source Toronto Star

Surgeons at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital are getting attention from the international medical community for their innovative use of the Xbox 360 Kinect in the operating room. The Microsoft system, which uses hands-free motion-sensing controls, allows doctors to manipulate images during surgery without having to touch a thing. The system saves both time and money as surgeons are able to pull up CT or MRI scans for review during an operation without having to re-sterilize the operating area (which would involve changing gloves and gowns).

"The Kinect can recognize hand gestures, as it is essentially a depth-sensing camera that fires out a grid of near infra-red beams to figure out how far away objects are from the camera. Built-in software contains algorithms that help it detect and recognize movement."

"And using hand gestures to zoom in or out of or flip through images could cut out the time surgeons normally spend scrubbing clean after reviewing images, the doctors said. Dr. Calvin Law, a surgical oncologist with the hospital, told the paper that cleaning to prevent bacterial contamination after checking a computer can take up to 20 minutes an image, sometimes adding a full hour to surgery."

"The project was developed by three engineers at the hospital, who have used the Kinect for six surgeries, The Canadian Press said, but the hospital has plans to roll it out in other departments."

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original source DOTmed News