More and more Ontario colleges are striking up collaborations with industry on applied research projects. With the establishment of the Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (CONII) and more new funding opportunities for college-based applied research from government funding agencies, it is clear that colleges are gaining a strong foothold in the research and innovation space.

The Colleges & Applied Research: Key to Innovation Success in Ontario session will take place on Monday, April 18 from 3:00 to 4:15 pm at the ORION Summit. Organized and facilitated by Robert Luke, Assistant Vice President of Research and Innovation at George Brown College, the session will focus on the start-up nature of applied research happening at Ontario colleges. Panelists will discuss their experiences with applied research projects, success factors and industry engagement, and the role of engaging students and mobilizing our institutions for a future workforce enabled by innovation literacy.

Panelists will include: John Breakey, CEO of Unis Lumin and Chair of CONII's Industry Advisory Committee; Dr. Darren Lawless, Dean of Applied Research at the Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning; Ken Ono, Vice President of NexJ Systems; and Dan Munro, Senior Research Associate at the Conference Board of Canada, who will talk about the Board's recent report, Innovation Catalysts and Accelerators: The Impact of Ontario Colleges' Applied Research. This study found that the applied research services provided by Ontario colleges often stimulate new R&D activity and spending in businesses, which would otherwise not have occurred had the college expertise and applied research funding not been available.

Session chair Robert Luke plans to end the session with a discussion about virtual research clusters. "Such clusters, which can be enabled by ORION, would let colleges address industry needs where and when needed through advanced collaboration and communication technologies," he says. "A virtual R&D cluster would enable distributed work teams to collaboratively address R&D needs emerging from basic research labs for market entry, as well as addressing the applied research needs of the industry."

Register today for the Colleges & Applied Research: Key to Innovation Success in Ontario session at the Summit: www.orion.on.ca/summit2011.

http://www.orion.on.ca/summit2011/newslettercolleges.html