Media Releases

(Halifax, NS) – Dalhousie University was pleased to welcome The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board and Mr. Andy Fillmore, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Democratic Institutions and Member of Parliament for Halifax, to campus today to announce a more than $13 million investment in eight new infrastructure projects that involve world-class researchers from Dalhousie University.

The funding, which is part of the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) Innovation Fund, will support important research happening at Dalhousie that ranges from seismic imaging and innovative viroceuticals to tidal energy and everything in between.

CFI aims to put the right tools in the hands of the country’s scientists so they can discover, innovate and train their students for the jobs of tomorrow. By doing so, scientists are contributing to building a bolder, brighter future for all Canadians.

Today’s announcement was part of the $554 million announced by the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, at the University of Manitoba on October 12. It represents 117 new infrastructure projects at 61 universities, colleges and research hospitals across Canada.

Highlights of successfully funded projects:

National Facility for Seismic Imaging
Dr. Mladen Nedimovic, Professor, Faculty of Science

The new National Facility for Seismic Imaging will be the largest of its kind in the world and will be used for unparalleled monitoring of structures that generate earthquakes. The research carried out through our facility, consisting of innovative ocean bottom seismometers constructed with Canadian state of the art technology, will position Canadian scientists at the forefront of future discoveries and inform the development of guidelines and policies required to protect Canadians.

Dr. Nedimovic is leading this project, and will be collaborating with researchers from McGill University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Simon Fraser University, The University of British Columbia, University of Manitoba, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, University of Victoria and Universitié du Québec à Montréal on this project.

Infrastructure to Support the Discovery and Development of Innovative Viroceuticals
Dr. Roy Duncan, Professor, Faculty of Medicine

Armed with world-class expertise in infection and immunity, virus-host interactions, vaccinology, cancer biology, and biotherapeutic manufacturing, the multi-institutional Canadian Virus and Immunology Consortium (CVIC) will repurpose viruses to serve as platforms for the development of novel oncolytics, anti-virals and vaccines, to effectively reduce Canada's burden of disease.

Dr. Duncan will collaborate with researchers from the University of Ottawa (who is leading the project), and the University of Alberta.

The following researchers from Dalhousie also received funding from the CFI Innovation Fund:

Paul Bishop, Professor, Faculty of Engineering
Project: Canadian Additive Manufacturing Network (Can-AMN): A Network for Holistic Innovation in Additive Manufacturing

Scott Chapman, Professor, Faculty of Science
Project: Gemini IRMOS: The Pathfinder for the Thirty Meter Telescope’s Infrared Multi-Object Integral-Field Spectrograph

John Gosse, Professor, Faculty of Science
Project: microSTARR - Ultra Sensitive Tracer Analysis in Radioisotope Research

Dr. Alex Hay, Professor, Faculty of Science
Project: Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Forecasting Infrastructure for Instream Tidal Energy

Sara Iverson, Professor, Faculty of Science
Project: Development of Autonomous Marine Observation Systems (DAMOS)

Casey Warman, Associate Professor, Faculty of Science
Project: The CRDCN Transition to High Performance Computing: Liberating Data for Research and Policy

For more information about the Canadian Foundation for Innovation’s Innovation Fund, and a complete list of funded projects, visit the CFI website.

Quotes:

“Investing in Canada’s scientists is investing in our country’s prosperous future. By putting the tools into the right hands and encouraging creative minds to excel, we will become recognized as a global leader in environmental, medical and social research, and benefit from cutting-edge research and discoveries.”
- The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board of Canada

“Dalhousie’s researchers have always been leaders in discovery and innovation. The significant investment made by the Government of Canada today will allow them to continue to make a significant impact in Nova Scotia, Canada and beyond, and train the next generation of world-class scientists.”
‒ Dr. Alice Aiken, Vice President Research, Dalhousie University

“The new National Facility for Seismic Imaging will be the largest of its kind in the world and will be used for unparalleled monitoring of structures that generate earthquakes. The research carried out through our facility, consisting of innovative ocean bottom seismometers constructed with Canadian state of the art technology, will position Canadian scientists at the forefront of future discoveries and inform the development of guidelines and policies required to protect Canadians.”
‒ Dr. Mladen Nedimović, Professor and project lead of the future the National Facility for Seismic Imaging at Dalhousie University

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Media Contact:

Michele Charlton
Communications Advisor, Dalhousie Research Services
Tel: (902) 494-4148
Cell: (902) 222-2817
Email: michele.charlton@dal.ca