UNews - Minister of Advanced Education and Technology

Weadick appointed Minister of Advanced Education and Technology

trevor.kenney — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:55:11 +0000

Premier promotes Verlyn Olson and Greg Weadick to cabinet
Cal Dallas becomes the new Parliamentary Assistant to Finance

Premier Ed Stelmach announced today that Wetaskiwin-Camrose MLA Verlyn Olson, QC, has been named Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and Lethbridge West MLA Greg Weadick has been named Minister of Advanced Education and Technology.

"We look forward to working with Greg in his new role as Minister of Advanced Education and Technology," said U of L President Mike Mahon.

"As our local MLA and in his prior role with Advanced Education and Technology, Greg is very aware of post-secondary education issues and challenges. Greg has been a long-time supporter of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge as a graduate himself and as a parent of one of our current students. I know Greg is very aware of the aspirations and needs of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and I offer him the congratulations of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community on his new appointment."

"I'm pleased to welcome Verlyn and Greg to the cabinet table," said Premier Stelmach. "Verlyn and Greg bring the necessary talent and experience - Greg as a parliamentary assistant and Verlyn as a long-time member of the bar - to complete our cabinet team. Our cabinet will continue to provide the steady leadership required right now to continue building a better Alberta."

Premier Stelmach also named a new Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance and Enterprise. "I'm pleased that Red Deer South MLA Cal Dallas, who had been serving as the Parliamentary Assistant in Environment, will take over this important role and work closely with Finance Minister Lloyd Snelgrove," said the Premier.

Premier Stelmach also announced changes to committee memberships. Joining the Agenda and Priorities Committee are Sustainable Resource Development Minister Mel Knight, Children and Youth Services Minister Yvonne Fritz and Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Jack Hayden. New members of Treasury Board are Len Webber, Minister of Aboriginal Relations, Heather Klimchuk, Minister of Service Alberta, and Naresh Bhardwaj, MLA for Edmonton-Ellerslie.

The new Cabinet members will be sworn in Friday, Feb. 18 at 8:30 a.m. at Government House.

Lloyd Snelgrove was sworn in as Minister of Finance and Enterprise on Jan. 31.

Added funding promotes epigenetic research

trevor.kenney — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:48:49 +0000

A brain injury as a youth can make a person more likely to suffer from strokes, Parkinson's or other diseases of the brain later in life.

The big question might be "why?" but the answer may be found by looking at something very, very small: understanding how an individual gene can go wrong or not work properly over a person's lifetime.

The emerging research discipline that can help find that answer is called epigenetics, and thanks to a significant amount of recent funding, researchers at the U of L are poised to assume a significant leadership role in epigenetics research.

Epigenetics (which means 'beyond genetics' in Latin) is the study of how individual genes and components of individual genes can change in response to environmental conditions or other factors.

Nearly 20 U of L researchers from three academic departments (Neuroscience, Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Sciences) and up to 50 graduate and doctoral-level researchers will be involved in the initial phases of the research. Significant expansions are planned for future years of the research program.

In addition to $3 million in start-up funding announced last summer from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, a recent funding announcement from the Government of Alberta's Alberta Science and Research Investments Program (ASRIP) has awarded a research team from the U of L more than $2.8 million.

"This funding, along with our matching funds from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and support from the U of L and other granting agencies, will boost the U of L to a world-class level in terms of our ability to identify and work on new epigenetics projects," says Dr. Robert Sutherland, a neuroscience researcher and one of the driving forces behind the new epigenetics research program.

Along with colleagues Drs. Olga and Igor Kovalchuk in Biological Sciences and collaborators in Chemistry and Biochemistry and other departments on campus – and a huge team of graduate and undergraduate students – Sutherland said the researchers are looking forward to a lot of work now and in the future to tease solutions to a number of health issues out of the complex genetics system that makes up the human body.

"This funding will allow us to gather even more people and resources together in one place to learn about how individual genes can affect people's health and well-being," Sutherland says.

"Education and science lie at the heart of our future prosperity," adds Doug Horner, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. "These continued research awards help attract and retain the best and brightest researchers and, in turn, help improve the competitiveness of our industries. Our researchers are paving the way to bring about new products, services and treatments that can lead to a better quality of life for Albertans."

Alberta's universities shared almost $44 million in awards for research into developing new treatments for diabetics, burn victims and lung disease patients, improving GPS accuracy and adding value to Alberta's traditional crops as well as the U of L's epigenetics research program.

For 2009, Alberta Science and Research Investments Program awards provide up to 40 per cent of total project costs to 18 initiatives in priority areas of bioindustries, energy and the environment, and health. The projects will also receive $66 million from other sources, including the federal government and private sector partners. Since 2000, the program has provided more than $169 million for over 100 projects.

New Ingenuity centre takes Alberta’s information technology sector to new levels

trevor.kenney — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:53:20 +0000

The first of its kind in the world, Alberta's newest Ingenuity Centre is working with entrepreneurs and researchers to use real-time geographical information to address global challenges in resource management.

The new centre, Tecterra, is one of five Alberta Ingenuity Centres for Research and Commercialization that focuses technology and research to build more sustainable industry practices.

Built on a partnership between the provincial and federal governments, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, Tecterra will tap into the research excellence across the province.

It will act as a hub that will allow resource companies to work with innovative technology companies and the research community to develop world-class solutions to industry challenges.

With added investments from the Alberta government, including the Alberta Ingenuity Fund, this research centre plays a major role in the product commercialization commitment made last year through Alberta's Action Plan - Bringing Technology to Market.

"Alberta is taking our large body of resource-based knowledge, along with our environmental sensibility, and combining it with world-class information technology infrastructure," says Doug Horner, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology.

"With this unique recipe, businesses and governments from around the world are coming to see Alberta as the place where solutions can be found for resource management challenges. We're a leader in applying this expertise in areas such as cumulative effects, land-use management, recreational use, fire management, transportation and countless other areas."

Tecterra brings wide-ranging expertise together to bolster what is widely considered one of the top three geomatics groups in the world.

An important aspect of the new centre is its commercialization capability. It is designed to accommodate the flow of ideas and technology from both Alberta companies and industry-relevant research into the marketplace.

"This centre joins the four other Ingenuity Centres that have been hard at work for the past six years, creating strong collaborations between Alberta's world-class researchers, and with major industry partners, to solve industry challenges that not only benefit Alberta but the rest of the world," says Dr. Peter Hackett, President and CEO of Alberta Ingenuity.

"The centre's program is a vital tool for maintaining the prosperity of Alberta's research innovation system and ensuring we remain competitive on the global stage."

"Commercialization of new technology is a key priority for geomatics research and this new pan-Alberta centre of excellence," says Harvey Weingarten, president of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary.

"With the support of industry and government, this centre will be the catalyst to develop and commercialize new products and technologies that will drive the economy forward and make a difference to the lives of Albertans and Canadians."

Tecterra represents a model of how partners working together can strengthen Alberta's growing high tech sector. The more than $50 million investment includes: $21.6 million from the Alberta government ($11.6 million from Alberta Advanced Education and Technology and $10 million from Alberta Ingenuity), $11.6 million from the federal government's Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program, as well as a further $20 million anticipated from industry and other end users.

UNews - Minister of Advanced Education and Technology

Weadick appointed Minister of Advanced Education and Technology

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Added funding promotes epigenetic research

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New Ingenuity centre takes Alberta’s information technology sector to new levels

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